Council row over Cork-Shanghai twinning plan

CORK is to twin with Shanghai despite concerns about China’s human rights record.

City councillors voted 18 to five in favour of a proposal to formally enter into a twinning arrangement with the city of almost 17 million people, dubbed China’s New York, on Monday night.

A number of councillors said the benefits in relation to education, culture, economic development and research would far outweigh any concerns about China’s human rights record.

Growth in Shanghai has been phenomenal over the last 50 years.

The teeming city has emerged as the most influential centre of industry, trade and finance in China.

Its GDP, at just over 11%, is over twice that of Ireland’s and it has been in double digits for the last nine years.

Its city officials have pursued links with a number of countries and are understood to have initiated the link with Cork.

But Labour Cllr Denis O’Flynn said he was concerned Cork city council and bodies like UCC and CIT were putting trade before people.

“The memories of Tiananmen Square are fresh in my memory. We should have nothing to do with the Chinese until they get their human rights in order,” he said.

His concerns were shared by Green Cllr Chris O’Leary. He said Amnesty have lobbied the Green Party about this twinning plan.

However Cllr Tim Brosnan said there are as many Amnesty files about human rights abuses in Ireland as there are in China.

Cllr Colm Burke defended the twinning process.

“We should look at the overall picture. China has brought 150 million people above the poverty line in the last 15 years.

“There are 149 million mobile phones in China. They are getting 7,000 new subscribers every day.

“In Shanghai, 90% of the housing is less than 15 years old. They are making huge efforts at improvements,” he said.

Meanwhile, councillors have agreed to form special sub committees to assess the state of links between Cork and its five twinned cities.

Cllr Tom O'Driscoll said some of the city’s twinning relationships, like that with San Francisco, are down to just exchanging Christmas cards.