China formally summoned the German ambassador to
Beijing on Wednesday and threatened negative consequences for
bilateral relations after Foreign Minister Heiko Maas met with Hong
Kong protest leader Joshua Wong earlier this week.
The Chinese ambassador to Berlin, Wu Ken, said that Beijing had
"voiced its deep dissatisfaction" with the "incident," referring to
the meeting between Maas and Wong.
The German Foreign Ministry confirmed that the German ambassador had
been called in for a meeting at the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Wu said the Chinese government had asked that Wong be denied entry to
Germany on multiple occasions. He added that the meeting would have
negative consequences for bilateral relations between China and
Germany.
"I want to underline that Hong Kong belongs to China, and that Hong
Kong's business is subject to China's domestic policies," Wu said.
Joshua Wong, a leading activist in the pro-democracy movement in Hong
Kong, on Wednesday attended a press conference in Berlin in which he
called on the German government to publicly condemn police violence
and abuse of power during the ongoing demonstrations in the
semi-autonomous Chinese city.
Wong said Germany should stop exporting police equipment to Hong Kong
as long as the protests continue as it was being used against
protesters. "Actions speak louder than words," Wong said.
Wong also asked that the German government suspend trade talks with
China until human rights issues were put on the agenda. He said he
thought sanctions should be considered.
The protest leader said he had voiced his demands with German Foreign
Minister Heiko Maas during their meeting on Monday.
"More and more facts are showing that some radicals are hiding their
true face and their maliciousness under the guise of wanting
democracy and instead standing against the rule of law, against
societal order and against the principle of 'one state, two
systems'," the Chinese ambassador said.
Wu further accused Wong of planning violent protests in Hong Kong.
Wong is visiting Berlin at the invitation of the mass-circulation
Bild newspaper. He arrived in the German capital on Monday evening
and spoke with Maas - among other people - at an event organized by
Bild in a restaurant on the rooftop of Germany's parliament building.
Bild was not given permission to attend ambassador Wu's press
conference in Berlin on Wednesday, and when asked, Wu said the
conference room was full, although plenty of seats were vacant.
Wong's visit to Germany had been delayed by a day after he was
detained at Hong Kong's airport for allegedly breaching his bail
conditions.
The key figure in the Hong Kong anti-government protests was later
released after a court declared that his bail terms allowed for
pre-planned travel and that his arrest was unfounded.
"Hong Kong is the new Berlin in a new Cold War," the protest leader
said Wednesday.
He also said the demonstrations would continue in the Asian financial
hub, as the protesters were still fighting for basic rights and their
right to free and fair elections. Wong said this was Hong Kong's
constitutional right, but that Beijing was not fulfilling its
promises.
Wu accused German media of biased reporting on the Hong Kong
protests.
During the press conference, the ambassador showed a video
in which police officers were being beaten up and injured during
chaotic protests.
Wu said the actions of the protesters had long overstepped the line
of legitimacy, and accused Wong of being an organizer of violence.
"He and his supporters aim to create discord in society, spread hate
and violence, by casting the principle 'one state, two systems' in a
negative light and defame Hong Kong's government and the police," Wu
said.
He also used words such as hooligan, serious criminal and "almost a
terrorist," when speaking of Wong.
The ambassador said German politicians were missing key facts on the
situation in Hong Kong and accused them of wanting to make "political
capital."
"We should be able to do more for bilateral cooperation, but what has
happened now, I have to say very clearly, this will have negative
consequences for bilateral relations. And China must react," he said.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong (L) talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas as they attend the ,Bild100, event organised by Germany's tabloid Bild on Monday in Berlin