Opinions split on WA Chinese Consul General meeting with City of Albany and councillors

A recent meeting between City of Albany representatives, councillors and the WA Chinese Consul General has split opinions among the City’s elected representatives. The meeting, which took place in council chambers on June 22, was requested by Long Dingbin who has been the WA Chinese Consul General since April 2021. Last week Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington confirmed to the Advertiser the City hosted Mr Long during a visit to the region. “Myself and several of our elected members took part in general discussions about the City’s sister-city relationship with Linyi,” he said. “The City recognises the importance of international trade for Albany and the Great Southern and have met with a number of consul general that have visited our region.” At last Tuesday’s council meeting, less than a week on from the meeting with Mr Long, Cr Thomas Brough used his allotted time at the start of the meeting to express his concerns the City had met with members of the Chinese Communist Party. He said the meeting covered a broad range of topics “including ownership of the airport, size of the Albany commercial fishing fleet, details about port capabilities and proximity of lithium deposits”. “I am deeply concerned about the risks posed to local government by para-diplomatic missions such as this one, and what any consequences might be for our sovereignty,” he said. “The CCP is a strategic competitor of Australia and is, according to the 2023 Australian Government Defence Strategic Review, undertaking a military build-up which is now the largest and most ambitious of any country since the end of World War II.” Cr Brough labelled the sister-city relationship as “unlikely” as “Linyi fails” to meet the five criteria outlined in the City’s Civic Affiliations Policy, which are based on trade, cultural, sporting, tourism or education links. The City’s policy lists the Linyi civic affiliation as a “friendly co-operative relationship agreement ... based on actively promoting economic and trade cooperation in accordance with the principles of mutual benefit”. Cr Brough said the relationship had “languished” because “not a single business deal, letter, email or text message came to Albany from this unlikely sister city” since an agreement between the two cities was signed in 2014. “The CCP spent the last three years engaged in economic warfare against Australian farmers, fishermen, winegrowers, miners and foresters, costing Australia an estimated $19 billion a year in goods and $28 billion a year in services,” he said. “Having failed in its trade war and wolf-warrior diplomacy, the CCP changed its tactics and began an integrated campaign of ‘smile diplomacy’. “It wasn’t surprising, therefore, when two weeks ago the WA Chinese Consul General Mr Long Dingbin invited himself to meet with City of Albany executives and councillors on 22nd June 2023.” While Cr Brough was the most vocal councillor to speak against the relationship, Cr Chris Thomson also took the opportunity during his report to remind the council of why he had boycotted the meeting with Mr Long. He said he thought it was “a bit rich” that the council had met with a representative of the People’s Republic of China based on a relationship with a single city. “I was keen to maintain clean hands in the event that any Chinese interests become involved in mining exploration between Albany and Denmark,” he said. “And philosophically I feel the City should scale back, not ramp up, activity under sister city agreements.” During his report, Cr Paul Terry said there had been “some apprehension” in some parts of the community ahead of the meeting but he believed Mr Long came with “good will in mind”. “(He) talked about opportunities for producers to re-engage with Chinese importers for produce in the region with the relaxation on wine imports, barley and woodchips, which are going to happen or have happened already,” he said. “There are opportunities for people to explore that avenue.” Cr Matt Benson-Lidholm said during his report he shared some of Cr Brough’s concerns, but it was important to get a “handle on what these particular people are all about”. “I didn’t have anything to do with Linyi all those years ago because I wasn’t on council, but I have travelled to China as part of a parliamentary delegation and I’ve seen for myself the sort of issues that Cr Brough has talked about,” he said. “With that in mind I still believe that it’s important when we have delegations coming from overseas that we have some sort of representation, and I was pleased to be able to attend.” Cr Brough indicated at the end of his report that he intended to do further work as a councillor on the matter.