Arnhem breaks ties with Wuhan over treatment of Uyghur people

Arnhem is breaking ties with its Chinese sister city of Wuhan over China's treatment of the Uyghur people. In a surprise decision, the majority of the Arnhem city council voted against the mayor's plan to continue the relationship with Wuhan and stay in dialogue with China about human rights, De Gelderlander reports.

A majority of DENK, GroenLinks, D66, SP, ChristenUnie, PVV, and PvdD voted for an immediate severance of ties.

"We believe that human rights violations are taking place on a massive scale in China and the situation of the Uyghurs and other minorities in China is deteriorating by the day and that under these circumstances it is immoral to maintain city ties with China," the parties said.

They also referred to a parliamentary motion earlier this year that called China's treatment of Uyghur people genocide. 

The sister-city relationship between Arnhem and Wuhan was established in 1999 and is good for dozens of jobs, according to the newspaper.