140,000 patriotic Chinese volunteered to go to the Western Front in World War 1 to help the British and the French dig trenches and perform other manual work. This was because they thought that Western democracies would appreciate their sacrifices and reward China justly after the war for her contribution.

Dear Colleagues and Friends

Are you ready for 12 December? This is the chance to change the course of history, to stop Brexit and Build a Better Future.

The Liberal Democrats are ready for the General Elections and Chinese LibDems have a candidate, Dr George Lee, standing in Westminster North who needs your help.

The acronym ALDE stands for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe of which the Liberal Democrats are a member. There are currently 67 member parties and together with France's En Marche make up the RENEW Group, the 3^rd largest grouping in the European Parliament with 108 MEPs. They sit in the centre of the hemicycle between the socialists on the left and the conservative and nationalistic parties on the right and are an influential force in Europe with 5 Liberal Commissioners.

I recently returned from 3 intense days of networking with our European friends in historic Athens, the cradle of democracy, where we were gathered for ALDE's 40^th Congress. A bit like LibDem conferences, there were opportunities for training sessions eg on digital marketing, meeting and hearing from elected politicians such as the Liberal Prime Minister of Luxembourg and the chance to make policy at plenary sessions, ranging from Climate Change to Urgency resolutions on Iraq, Turkey and, of course, BREXIT.

Since July, as the situation in Hong Kong worsened, CLD and other Lib Dems had made several responses. An emergency motion was submitted to the Autumn conference (on inter alia the rights of BNO passport holders) which was not successful in being selected for debate. CLD also wrote to the UK Foreign Secretary and received a polite reply, and Alistair Carmichael MP, the Lib Dem Chief Whip, had put out a statement deploring police violence in HK.

The party conference came at an exciting time not least because of the massive increase in support for our party, The Liberal Democrats, over the past year. I am one of the new members who joined the party over the last year. There is little doubt the expense of attending conference can be a concern. After all, a quick getaway to the Mediterranean may cost just as much, and those seaside beaches may be a little more exotic than the familiar Bournemouth. However, I am confident you will find a four days trip with the Lib Dems appealing after reading my experience, a first time at the national party conference.

I was pleased to be adopted recently as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Westminster North. My journey to this point has been a long one. Through a career in business, the police, another party and all the way from Hong Kong, I have been emboldened to join the fight to demand better for our communities and country than this Tory-Labour mess.

For those who do not know George Lee, he was Parliamentary Candidate for the Conservatives in 2010 in the constituency of Holborn and St Pancras.

He was also previously a senior officer in the Metropolitan Police, rising to be Sector Commander in Paddington Green. It was in that role that he developed and led a multi-agency initiative to tackle youth gang culture, introducing a holistic joined up programme titled DEEP - Decision Education Enforcement & Prevention. This was launched after the murder of headmaster Philip Lawrence at St Georges School in Maida Vale.

Due to the current political situations in Hong Kong, we Chinese Liberal Democrats are about to submit an emergency motion for debate at the autumn party conference 2019.

The motion reads as:

Motion on Hongkong and Rights of British Nationals (Overseas)

Drafted on behalf of Chinese Liberal Democrats 24.8.19

Introducing our new CLD Councillor Dr Gary Wong, in his own words:

"I was born in British Hong Kong and came to Britain when I was young. I went to school initially in Orpington, Kent and later at Stonyhurst College, Lancashire.

I was educated at University of Glasgow where I gained my medical degree. I also hold a Master degree in Sociology at University of Bristol.