Chancellor's China trip: FDP demands clear attitude from Merkel to Hong Kong

Overshadowed by the trade dispute between China and the United States and the mass demos in Hong Kong, German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to China in the afternoon. The Chancellor wants to hold talks on Friday with the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and in the evening with President Xi Jinping. Further program items of the visit will include the participation of the Chancellor in the meeting of the Advisory Committee of the German-Chinese Economy and at the final session of the German-Chinese Dialogue Forum.

The FDP foreign politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff invited Merkel to take a clear position on Hong Kong's visit to China. "Right now, the Chancellor must emphatically call for compliance with the Sino-British Declaration of 1984, the preservation of the civil rights guaranteed by the Treaty and respect for the principle of" one country, two systems ", said Lambsdorff.

Should China take violent action against the peaceful protesters in Hong Kong, such as Tiananmen Square in 1989, Germany would have to condemn this together with its European partners, said the deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group.

Stefan Liebich, the foreign policy spokesman for the Left Party, also called on the Chancellor to "argue in her talks with the Communist Party that there should be no violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators, but that the demonstrators themselves must be more involved in violence or the blockade Forgo infrastructure. "

Merkel is reluctant to respond to a letter from activists

However, according to government spokesman Steffen Seibert, a meeting of the Chancellor with leaders of the protests in Hong Kong is not planned. Shortly before the start of the journey, these Merkel had asked for a meeting. He could not announce anything new about the Chancellor's travel plans, said Seibert.

In an open letter to Merkel, who is the "Bild" newspaper, warns the student leader Joshua Wong of an escalation of violence. But the Chancellor reacted reluctantly. When asked if the Chancellor would respond to this letter, it was said that she basically did not reply to open letters.

For months, there have been protests in Hong Kong, often resulting in clashes between a small section of the protesters and the police. The protest movement fears the increasing influence of the Chinese government on Hong Kong and a curtailment of its freedoms.

German government hopes for non-violent solution in Hong Kong

The Federal Government again appealed to the parties to the Hong Kong protests before the visit to resolve the conflict in dialogue and non-violently, on the basis of the laws and freedoms that apply to Hong Kong and the relationship between China and the Special Administrative Region.

Merkel was last in China last May. According to the impression of Meric's experts (Mercator Institute for China Studies), it is a bit crunching in relations between the two countries. Merkel will be accompanied during her three-day trip by a large business delegation.