About Yi Pei

I was born in Taiwan from Hangzhou and Hakka descent, then raised in Belgium, and am a mother of three children with my British husband. Thanks to my upbringing, I'm fluent in three languages, which is a blessing in the world today.

People are my motivation: I want to be part of creating a fair society and great community. Since my teen years I've been involved in charities such as Oxfam, the Church, and I have led groups such as Scouts and playgroups. I have also campaigned in local politics and for students' rights as a class representative.

Last week Henry Dyer, a staff member in UK's Parliament and a political journalist made a formal complaint against Labour's Neil Coyle MP, resulting in the MP being suspended over racist comments and being banned from the Parliamentary estate for 6 months.

Henry wrote in the Business Insider: "After marking Chinese New Year with my family, I went to the bar where Neil Coyle made racist comments.

"I was made to feel uncomfortable while covering parliament, which led to my lodging a formal complaint."

Some of these racist comments included reference to 20^th century trope Fu Manchu as well as inappropriate comments regarding the case of Barry Gardiner and alleged funding from Chinese sources.

Editor: Welcome to Chinese Liberal Democrats, founded in 2006 to reach out to Chinese, East and SE Asians in the UK. Please tell us a bit of your background and cultural heritage, when you came to the UK and what you are doing at the moment professionally?

Robert: I am a Korean British and came into the UK in 1995. I have advised the governments and utilities on their preparation and project development as a UK Solicitor specialized in Energy and Infrastructure project development. I have also served for Charities as a trustee, such as Kingston Race and Equality Council, London Korean School.

Editor: That is so interesting. When did you get more involved in working within your Korean community, and can you share a bit more about the needs and concerns of the people you have been in touch with?

"On the 13th of January, MI5 released a Security Service Interference Alert (SSIA) to the House of Commons followed by some sensational headlines from the UK press, using words such as "alleged Chinese agent has infiltrated Parliament … Chinese secret agent seeking to influence British politics …. suspected Communist spy at the heart of British democracy."

Emma YuLian was recently co-opted into the Chinese Liberal Democrats' core team as Treasurer-elect. She speaks with CLD's co-founder Merlene Emerson about what drew her to the party and what advice she has for those interested in getting more involved in British politics.

Merlene: I understand that you read mathematics at Oxford University. Could you share a bit more about your background and experience?

"I enjoy promoting diversity and inclusivity and good governance and would love to be part of the process of governance of the party. I hope that we fill all the positions available for representation from London.

I joined the LibDems after Remain lost the Referendum and was very active in the European election campaign, including being a counting agent, volunteered in various by-elections, became a canvassing team leader for Chuka Umunna's campaign in GE 2019 and worked on the LGA elections and our Pimlico by-election.

At a virtual AGM last Sunday, South Cambridgeshire Councillor Sarah Cheung-Johnson was unanimously elected as the new Chair Chinese LibDems for 2022. The meeting was well attended including by members from the Korean and Vietnamese diaspora communities.

This has of course been the vision of CLDs to be a network representing not just Chinese people but those of East and SE Asian heritage as well. In fact CLDs attempted a name change to BESEA or CESEA in the past year though the resolution did not pass.

am a Councillor on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and I reported to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee at our March meeting that we had to be vigilant when Hongkongers with BN(O) status start to arrive in the country in family groups. I warned that with hate crime on the rise, even in Tunbridge Wells, the Community Safety Team had to be on the alert that people are not being attacked for their ethnicity. Hate crimes had risen by 3.2% since last year due to the constant repetition on the media that Chinese were responsible for the spread of the "Wuhan virus". This is untrue as recent studies have shown Covid-19 had been brought into the UK via Europe. It was most likely from Northern Italy where there was a severe outbreak of C-19 cases with over 6,000 recorded deaths by mid March.

"Hong Kong now faces unprecedented and fundamental crisis since its establishment as a free trade port. The worst event which had taken place was the Japanese occupation. The Japanese turned this once flourishing, special and vibrant place into an abyss. The Operation Armour, which directs all life-saving materials for the post-war Hong Kong, was based on a mutual trust and support and a special bond traversing blood and racial differences. It is no exaggeration that the people of Hong Kong owes something to Her Majesty. After delving into the history of WWII Hong Kong, I can say it fundamentally changed my view and I am feeling I have some special duty as one of the British Nationals.

The following letter by Linda Chung to the local press in Camden, Hampstead and Highgate and published in full this week is reproduced below:

"I attended the launch of STRIDE by Commissioner Cressida Dick on 27 September. STRIDE is the Met's strategic plan to cover inclusion, diversity, and engagement for the next five years. It was an upbeat launch, with a range of senior and junior officers talking about their work and intentions to uphold the nine principles of policing, originally set out by the Sir Robert Peel on the basis of policing by consent. Trust and confidence were the key words.