Campaigners have published an open letter calling on Nottingham City Council to end its relationship with a city in China.
The council has had an official relationship with the Chinese city of Ningbo since the University of Nottingham opened a 14-acre campus there in 2004.
But the Nottingham Stands with Hong Kong group object to what they say is oppression and persecution of people in Hong Kong and last year handed a petition to the council.
In their open letter the protest group recognise that the twinning arrangement has had a ‘significant influence on both economic and cultural development’.
But it says the partnership should be based on ‘the grounding principle of upholding human rights and democratic values that our city safeguard’.
The council’s leader David Mellen said the nature of all the authority’s twinning and international arrangements were being reviewed, including the one with Ningbo.
He told a council meeting last month that Nottingham was a place that embraces and celebrates diversity and inclusion.
He said: ‘We also know that as civic leaders in Nottingham, we must ensure that any current or future international relationships are with those places who uphold the same principles and that there are tangible benefits for the city and its residents.’
