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\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n
26-Mar-2021 Update John Biggs Open Letter 23-03-2021<\/p>","protected":false},"author":239292707,"featured_media":28,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"wp-custom-template-open-letters","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1384],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-letters"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hongkongers.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/HKB-Logo-Square.png?fit=2501%2C2501&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pf5k0Z-sp","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/239292707"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1761"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1770,"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions\/1770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hongkongers.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Reply from Mayor of Tower Hamlets<\/strong>
\u200b
Thank you for your email about this important issue.
At our Full Council meeting on the 17th of March, we agreed the Labour Group\u2019s amendment to motion 12.3. This means we will investigate whether roads or possibly new buildings near the location of the proposed Chinese Embassy could be renamed appropriately as acts of solidarity. Our amendment also recognised the previous discussions we\u2019ve had on this issue at earlier council meetings.
I completely agree that our public spaces need to reflect our borough\u2019s heritage, and that\u2019s why our amendment also noted the council\u2019s review of the borough\u2019s public realm which included a resident consultation to identify monuments, plaques, buildings, roads which celebrated legacies which \u00a0are not in keeping with the borough\u2019s values of diversity.
As we explained in our amendment, we will not refrain from expressing the views of the Council, on behalf of our community, or asserting our support for the freedom and diversity of our borough.
You may be aware that I recently wrote to the Chinese Ambassador on behalf of the Council to express deep concerns about China\u2019s human rights record, and I also met with a representative of the Chinese Embassy last year to convey the council\u2019s concerns about China\u2019s actions.
You can see the final version of what we agreed as a Council here:\u00a0https:\/\/democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk\/documents\/s182629\/Labour%20Group%20amendment%20-%20Chinese%20embassy%20motion.pdf<\/a>
Your email specifically asks us to refuse planning permission for the new Chinese Embassy in Tower Hamlets, however in determining planning applications the council must strictly follow the various planning laws and regulations and determine applications in accordance with those laws. \u00a0
I appreciate this response won\u2019t be the one you\u2019re hoping for, but I hope the various actions we\u2019ve taken as set out above goes to show how seriously we take this matter and how we\u2019re working to ensure that our views are heard clearly and unequivocally.
Thank you again for your email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mayor of Tower Hamlets<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"John](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hongkongers.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/John-Biggs.jpg?resize=600%2C300&ssl=1\")
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