Victorian City Council Drops ‘Friendly’ Exchange with China After Residents’ Raise Concerns Over No Community Consultation

City of Maribyrnong Councillors in Melbourne, Australia listening to Phong Nguyen, vice-president of the Victorian chapter of the Vietnamese Community in Australia (VCA), at an Ordinary Council meeting 10 September 2019. Maribyrnong City Council

MELBOURNE, Australia—A proposal to engage in a sister city relationship with a district in China has been withdrawn after Vietnamese residents from the City of Maribyrnong expressed disdain over the mayor’s lack of community consultation over the proposed motion.

Speaking at a council meeting on Sept. 10, Mayor Councillor Martin Zakharov, confirmed that the proposed motion—which would have seen the City of Maribyrnong establish a “friendly exchange relationship” with Wuxi-Huishan District in Jiangsu, China—had been withdrawn and “will not be tendered.”