A rural New South Wales council has voted to rescind of 32 years after widespread backlash.
Wagga Wagga City Council voted on Tuesday last week to cut ties with the city of Kunming of the Yunnan Province after Councillor Paul Funnell spearheaded a motion over what he described as China's "lies to the world".
"The provincial governing body of Kunming and Chinese national institutions are an extension of the totalitarian communist regime of China - nothing more, nothing less," he said.
With only six of the city's nine councillors at the meeting, the motion passed with a casting vote after three councillors voted each way.
Mayor Greg Conkey, who did not attend last weeks meeting due to illness, criticised the decision and called for the vote to be repealed during an extraordinary council meeting on Wednesday evening.
Wagga councillor Paul Funnell (left), who spearheaded the motion to cut ties with Kunming, and Wagga City Council Mayor Greg Conkey. Source: Supplied
He said the council had received 48 emails from Wagga Wagga residents regarding the decision, 47 of which were against severing the relationship.
"This act has been overwhelmingly condemned by our own councillors, our own community and by people across the country," he said of the decision.
"Sadly, when poor decisions are made there is often harm that can’t be undone. This may well be one of those times. We must nevertheless endeavour as best we can to right these wrongs."
He added the decision made him feel "physically sick".
Councillors voted six to one in favour of rescinding the motion.
During Wednesday's meeting, Councillor Funnell doubled down on his original motion and accused the Chinese Communist Party of attempting to interfere in Australia's democracy.
"My country doesn't want a foreign country to dictate, my council doesn't either," he said on Wednesday. "I have been contacted by hundreds of Australians of Chinese background and they back me to a hilt."
A number of Chinese-Australians spoke in favour of terminating the sister city relationship, describing threats they had received on behalf of the Chinese government.
"The suffering of my family is just one example of suffering that is common under the Chinese Communist government," former Kunming resident and Australian citizen Lucy Zhao told the meeting after outlining her family's escape from the country.
Prior to Wednesday's vote, Kunming Municipal Government released a statement describing Councillor Funnell's motion as "wantonly discredited" and accused him of slandering the Chinese political system.
A extraordinary meeting of Wagga Wagga City Council was held to reconsider the motion. Source: Supplied
"We have also noticed that the vast majority of the citizens of Wagga Wagga expressed strong opposition and condemnation to the behaviours of the few councillors, which is consistent with the friendly relationship between the two cities," the statement read.
Following the original vote, a number of high profile people called for the sister city relationship to continue, including Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who was born in Wagga Wagga.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Consulate General in Sydney also called for the decision to be immediately overturned.
The city of Kunming in China's Yunnan province has begun to reopen following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Source: AAP
Wagga Wagga resident and member of the NSW government Wes Fang - who is the first Chinese-Australian to represent the Nationals in the state parliament - told SBS News it was "racist dog-whistling at its worst".
"We’re blaming our sister city for events that happened over 1500 kilometres away and somehow trying to link it to the government," he said.
A sister city relationship refers to a long-term formal partnership between two communities in different countries, which may involve business, trade, educational, and cultural exchanges.
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