A NSW council that sparked a diplomatic row with China after voting to end a sister city relationship because of coronavirus has retracted the decision and apologised.

Wagga City Council voted last week to repeal and sever all sister city agreements with  Kunming, the capital city of China’s Yunan province.

Speaking to the motion on April 14, Cr Paul Funnell said the Kunming governing body was an extension of China’s  communist regime and described the sister city relationship as “farcical”.

He said Kunming had requested masks and PPE to protect against coronavirus but had given nothing in return.

“These are the people we are in a formal relationship with,” he said. “The Chinese communist regime via a feel-good sister city program.

“We are not in a true relationship so why lie to ourselves.”

The decision prompted a furious response from the Kunming Municipal Government, which said in a statement that the councilors who voted in favour of the resolution had “wantonly discredited and slandered the Chinese political system, as well as the epidemic prevention and control work”.

It also prompted a furious response from Wagga Mayor Greg Conkey, who wasn’t present when the votes were cast and found himself scrambling to limit the damage.

The statement from Kunming noted that Cr Conkey had since apologised to his counterpart Mayor Wang Xiliang. It also said the City didn’t believe “the blasphemy of a few people” represented public opinion.

Councilors ‘reeling’

Immediately after the April 14 resolution, Cr Conkey issued a statement saying that the decision had left councilors “reeling”.

He said the decision was passed by three councilors from a total of nine, as one councilor was sick, two declared a conflict of interest and didn’t’ vote, and neither he nor his deputy were present.

That left six councilors to vote. The final vote was tied at 3-3, with the chairman casting the carrying vote.

Extraordinary meeting

At an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday night a red-faced council voted 6-1 to rescind the April 14 resolution and send a letter of apology to Kunming.

Councillors voted to authorise Cr Conkey to write a letter of apology and recommitment to the sister city arrangement with Kunming and to apologise to the community for the harm and reputational damage caused by the previous resolution.

“Sadly, when poor decisions are made there is often harm that can’t be undone,” Cr Conkey said in the business papers.

“This may well be one of those times. We must never the less endeavour as best we can to right these wrongs.”

Speaking in favour of the motion on Wednesday evening, he said the initial resolution had left him feeling “shocked, distraught and physically ill”.

Speaking against it, Cr Funnell accused China of attempting to slyly “Hoover up our medical supplies”.

“It’s relationships like this that give the communist regime legitimacy,” he said.

Wagga’s sister city relationship with China was established in 1988 and has proved important for the regional town which is both an exporter of agricultural goods and a consumer of Chinese technology and products.

It had also fostered trust and cultural exchange, Cr Conkey said.

“That three elected members could shake the very foundation of goodwill which the reputation of this city is built upon is a lesson for us all about the significant decisions we make and the impact they have on the people we represent, the broader community and, most importantly, our friends,” he said.

“It is appropriate that we extend our hand to our friends in China and assure them that it is a hand which will always be extended to them with sincerity, humility and trust.”

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