China fumes over German foreign minister’s meeting with Hong Kong activist
DHARAMSALA, Sept 11: A meeting between the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong has infuriated China with Beijing labelling it as meddling in China’s internal affairs.
“Hong Kong is an internal affair and no foreign government, organization or individual has a right to interfere,” the Reuters reported citing Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying as saying after the duo’s meeting on the sidelines of an event hosted by the German newspaper BILD on Monday in Berlin.
China was “extremely dissatisfied and resolutely opposed” to German allowing Wong to visit and to allow him to meet the German foreign minister, the report quoted her as saying.
China has further lodged stern representations with the German side, the report added.
“Any plots to rely on foreigners to build oneself up or acts or words to split the country are doomed to failure,” she was further quoted as saying.
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong landed in Germany late on Monday evening after he was reportedly held for around 24 hours at the Hong Kong airport on Sunday allegedly for breaching the terms of his bail and met with the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas at the summer party ‘Bild 100’ of German publisher Axel Springer at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany on 9 September.
The development came after German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to China last week and Hua has remarked that during her trip last week, Merkel clearly said that she opposes violence and supports “one country, two systems”.
Cautioning the visit, the spokeswoman has lamented; “We can’t help but ask, what is the purpose of the German side in allowing Joshua Wong to come to Germany at this time and to meet with minister Maas?”
She has further urged Berlin to abide by its promises and avoid sending wrong messages to separatist Hong Kong forces and called on the German minister to abide by the basics of international law and not to endanger the relationship between the two countries.
