Sat 07 September 2019:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong “must be guaranteed”, after meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.
Hong Kong has faced months of pro-democracy protests, and ahead of her three-day visit to China this week, demonstrators in the semi-autonomous city appealed to the German chancellor to support them in her meetings with China’s leadership.
Merkel said she had discussed tensions in the former British colony, and civil rights there, with her hosts and had “pointed out that these rights and freedoms must of course be guaranteed”.
“In the current situation, everything must be done to avoid violence,” Merkel said at a joint press conference with Li, as seen in video footage published by German media.
“And the solutions can only be found in a political process — meaning through dialogue.”
Merkel arrived in China on Thursday with a large business delegation in tow.
The companies travelling with Merkel include Volkswagen, Allianz and Deutsche Bank according to the German daily Bild, which carried a headline Friday that read: “Do our companies not care about Hong Kong’s freedom?”
Ahead of her trip, prominent Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong and others had recalled in an open letter published by Bild on Wednesday that Merkel grew up in the communist police state of East Germany.
“You have first-hand experience of the terrors of a dictatorial government,” the letter read.
“We hope that you will express your concern about our catastrophic situation, and that you will convey our demands to the Chinese government during your stay in China.”
On a visit to China last year, Merkel met with the wife of a Chinese human rights lawyer charged with state subversion, an extremely rare meeting between a dissident and a visiting head of state.
The trip marks her 12th visit to China as chancellor.
Xinhua said China accounted for the largest share of imports into Germany in 2018 with goods worth 106.2 billion euros ($117.4 billion).
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