Protest in Reading against sister city agreements with China

A large crowd of silent demonstrators held signs in Broad Street and outside Town Hall raising awareness of reasons a citizen of China can be arrested.

The protest comes on China’s National Day, October 1, the anniversary of the date the People’s Republic of China was established.

”To many Hongkongers, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Taiwanese, it’s a day of mourning, not celebration,” wrote the organisers of the protest, Reading UK Stands with Hong Kong.

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“The Chinese Communist Party’s crackdowns against freedom, democracy, and human rights has intensified across China.

“The CCP regime is infiltrating and subverting the liberal world's morals in a frightening way.”

Protestors in Broad Street (Image: Paul King)

Protestors are encouring Reading residents to sign a petition to the UK Government rovoking sister city agreements with China, which they claim are a channel for espionage and propoganda.

There are 52 twinned British and Chinese towns and cities, such as Liverpool and Shanghai,Manchester and Wuhan, and Cardiff and Xiamen.

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In August, the UN human rights office raised concerns about possible “crimes against humanity” in China’s western region against Uighurs and other largely Muslim ethnic groups.

Beijing has vowed to suspend cooperation with the office and blasted what it described as a Western plot to undermine China’s rise.

Meanwhile, in September China’s government said Joe Biden’s statement in a CBS 60 Minutes interview that American forces would defend Taiwan if Beijing tried to invade the self-ruled island was a violation of US commitments on the matter, but it gave no indication of possible retaliation.