Nottingham City Council has declined to cut ties with Ningbo, its twin city in China, despite a petition signed by Nottingham Stands with Hong Kong (NSWHK), a diaspora group. NSWHK had cited China’s human rights record and urged the council to sever links as part of the Global De-Twin With China campaign, which is calling for more than 100 cities in seven countries to cut ties with China. Newcastle and Bath have already withdrawn from twinning agreements following the campaign. The Nottingham council said it hopes to use the university connection to expose Chinese students to democratic ideas.