China slams Germany over Hong Kong activist visit

BERLIN

China has sharply criticized Germany on Tuesday for Foreign Minister Heiko Maas’s meeting with prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong.

According to Xinhua news agency, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying expressed Beijing’s dismay over the meeting during a regular news conference.

"This constitutes disrespect for China's sovereignty and interference with China's internal affairs,” she stressed.

Hua recalled German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Beijing last week and her support to the "one country, two systems" principle.

"We urge the German side to keep its promises and avoid sending wrong signals to Hong Kong radical separatists," she said.

Joshua Wong, the secretary general of the pro-democracy group Demosisto, arrived Berlin on Monday night to attend an event organized by Bild daily, which brought together prominent political and civil rights activists from all over the world.

Foreign Minister Maas met Wong during the event which was held at the German parliament.

Meetings

The 22-year-old activist on Tuesday met with lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and other political parties at the parliament.

“It’s my honour and pleasure to meet with the foreign minister and MPs from different political party groups to seek for bipartisan support for Hong Kong’s democratization,” he said following his meetings.

Wong called on Merkel to take a more active role to support democratization.

“Hong Kong is the new Berlin under the new Cold War,” he added.

In a related news, China’s ambassador to the U.K. heavily criticized British politicians for their support for the demonstrators in Hong Kong.

On Monday, Liu Xiaoming accused some politicians for still having “a colonial mindset” and urged them to respect China’s sovereignty and not to “interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs”.

The ambassador did not rule out sending forces to Hong Kong if things become uncontrollable.

“China cannot sit on its hands and watch. Hong Kong is part of China. We can’t watch this violence go on and on,” he said.