Residents of France’s Overseas Department Reject CCP Infiltration Disguised as “Friendship Cities”

Chow Tai Fook Financial Center in Tianjin's Binhai new district

[People News] The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has infiltrated the world in countless ways—through economic inducements, cultural and artistic “cooperation,” scientific talent exchanges, and more. Among these, the so-called “sister city” or “friendship city” programs have become one of the CCP’s signature strategies for subtle ideological infiltration.

As of November 2024, the CCP officially announced that since 1973, 543 cities across China’s 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities have formed 3,054 friendship city (province/state) partnerships with 602 provinces/states and 1,871 cities in 147 countries. Through these partnerships, the CCP extends its atheistic, totalitarian values across the globe, seeking to erode universal values and traditional cultures—and ultimately realize its ambition to dominate all humanity.

As the CCP’s theft of scientific and economic advances from developed nations becomes ever more exposed—especially after the global devastation caused by the CCP virus (COVID-19)—and as more righteous nations awaken, countries worldwide are increasingly rejecting CCP infiltration. Many have severed ties with CCP-linked “friendship cities.”

For example, Gothenburg, Sweden’s second-largest city, terminated its sister-city relationship with Shanghai. Multiple U.S. cities, including Carmel, Indiana, and Little Rock, Arkansas, have prohibited “sister” or “friendship” relationships with Chinese Communist entities.

On October 28, residents of Réunion Island, an overseas department of France, along with local Chinese residents and several refugees who fled the CCP’s religious persecution, gathered in front of the Saint-Clotilde Regional Council. They called for the region to end its “friendship city” relationship with Tianjin, China, rejecting the CCP’s use of cultural, artistic, and economic exchanges to corrupt Réunion’s traditional values and way of life.

Réunion is a small island of just over 2,500 square kilometers, located more than 9,000 kilometers from mainland France, with a population of about 880,000. Despite its size, the island hosts several CCP-controlled underground organizations, including “provincial hometown associations,” “Chinese friendship associations,” and even a Confucius Institute.

According to a report from Nouvelles d’Europe on February 14, 2024, the Zhejiang Hometown Association in Réunion held a Chinese New Year gala. Attendees included:
– Wang Xiangyang, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China (CCP) in Saint-Denis (the capital of Réunion)
– Deputy Consul General Wang Li
– Cyrille Melchior, President of the Réunion Regional Council
– Stéphane Tigeux, First Deputy Mayor of Saint-Pierre (sister city of Lishui, Zhejiang Province)
– Olivier Hoarau, Mayor of Le Port
– Renaud Domont, Mayor of Saint-Leu
– Lick Robert, President of the Réunion Chamber of Commerce
– Zhou Xianzhong, President of the Réunion Chinese Friendship Federation
– Representatives of the Confucius Institute, Chinese language teachers, and students

Over 330 people attended the celebration.

In August 2023, Réunion’s Regional President Huguette Bello announced a partnership with the China National Film Administration, allocating €4.5 million in public funds to co-produce films with China. The project aimed to develop iconic film sites on the island, create a regional image center, and establish a “House of Film and Video Games” to boost the creative industry.

However, residents of Réunion have grown increasingly alarmed about the CCP’s covert influence. Members of the local association Éveil de Chine (Awakening to China), which joined the October 28 demonstration, stated that the CCP has been accused of large-scale persecution of Uyghurs, underground Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, and other minority groups—subjecting them to torture, arbitrary detention, and forced organ harvesting.

Hospitals in Tianjin, Réunion’s official “friendship city,” have reportedly participated in such acts. These crimes against humanity were condemned in the European Parliament’s resolutions of May 5, 2022, and January 18, 2024, which also called for sanctions against CCP officials. “How can Réunion—a region that values fraternity and freedom—maintain friendly ties with a criminal regime?” they asked.

One French resident, identified as Ms. G, expressed deep concern: “This so-called ‘film cooperation’ will only weaken freedom of expression. Free speech will be subject to Chinese Communist censorship. It’s incompatible with the human rights values of civilized nations. Are we really going to fund and praise a regime guilty of crimes against humanity?”

Some refugees who escaped CCP persecution tearfully recounted to reporters how their faith had led to electric torture, beatings, sleep deprivation, and even being attacked by animals in Chinese prisons.

Passersby who saw the photo exhibition depicting the CCP’s persecution and mass killings of Chinese citizens were shocked. Many condemned the CCP’s crimes against humanity and moral destruction:

“This is a moral and political issue. Any cooperation with a criminal group is aiding evil. Anyone serving the CCP’s propaganda is betraying their country and children’s future. For short-term gain—or out of delusion—they sacrifice our future. Once the CCP succeeds, it will never treat us kindly.”

Others remarked:

“Those deceived by the CCP who trade away their values, culture, and national dignity are already conquered. If we don’t defend universal values of freedom and justice now, our very bodies will be enslaved in the future.”

According to reports, the CCP National Film Administration sent a high-level delegation to Réunion last year. The delegation, led by Luo Yang, Deputy Director of the National Film Administration, also included:
– Qian Yuanhao, Director of the Research Division
– Zhang Yahui, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Division
– Li Qian, Director of the Cultural Information Division, News Office
– Ye Gang, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Office, National Internet and Information Administration

They toured Réunion’s film studios, explored scenic film locations, and held meetings with industry professionals.

(First published by People News) △