The leader of Leeds City Council has said it would not have been “appropriate” to raise human rights concerns during a meeting with the Chinese ambassador to the UK.
James Lewis and Leeds’ lord mayor, Al Garthwaite, met with Zheng Zheguang during his visit to the city in July.
Leeds has been twinned with Hangzhou, in the south east of the country, for 34 years.
But Councillor Lewis said it would have been wrong to discuss the oppression of Hong Kong and the genocide of Uyghur Muslims in China, saying such matters were diplomatic affairs for the UK government to raise.
Britain’s relationship with China is increasingly under the spotlight, after it was revealed a Parliamentary staffer had been arrested earlier this year on suspicion of spying for Beijing.
The Chinese government has denied carrying out genocide against the country’s Uyghur Muslim population, insisting that reported detention camps are in fact “vocational and educational training centres”.
Councillor Lewis’ remarks came in a written response to a question from local Conservative councillor Ryan Stephenson.
Cllr Stephenson was due to raise the issue at a full council meeting earlier this month, but time elapsed before his question could be asked.
Cllr Stephenson asked if Cllr Lewis had raised “on behalf of Hong Kongers seeking refuge in Leeds, the issue of Beijing’s authoritarian actions in Hong Kong, and did he also raise the genocide committed against Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region?”
In his response, Cllr Lewis wrote that Mr Zheguang had been in Leeds to attend a conference on China’s economic ties with northern England.
He added: “Having taken advice from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DHLUC) the Chinese ambassador was welcomed to Leeds Civic Hall to meet the leader and the lord mayor to discuss our Leeds/Hangzhou twinning and economic links between the region and China.
“Leeds and Hangzhou have been partner cities since 1989 and celebrated 30 years of partnership by signing an MOU in 2018.”
“Matters relating to the Hong Kong and other political matters were not discussed as it would not be appropriate for an individual local authority to enter into discussions with the Chinese Ambassador on such matters on an induvial basis.”
Councillor Lewis said the council was providing support to Hong Kong nationals living in Leeds.
He said “positive relationships” had been formed with a number of organisations supporting the community, while the Hong Kong Friendship Festival was held in January this year.
In 2020, neighbouring Wakefield ditched a town twinning arrangement with Nanning City in China after just one year, over human rights concerns.
