Two German men aged 22 and 23 were arrested in Hong Kong. The two were arrested on Thursday for engaging in an unauthorized meeting, police said. The 22-year-old is also accused of a violation of the mantle ban.
At around 9:00 pm, the police dispersed a group of demonstrators in the Tuen Mun district and then stopped the two foreigners at a bus stop. They had been fixed for the duration of the investigation. In the Foreign Office in Berlin, it was said that the two were cared for by the German Consulate General, which is in contact with lawyers and local authorities.
The "Bild" newspaper reported that the men were exchange students at the Lingnan Art University. The university, which had recently come under protest against the government of Hong Kong, was initially unable to reach an opinion. The protest movement in Hong Kong sees general liberties in the former British Crown Colony endangered and fears growing influence from the Beijing government.
In Hong Kong, the situation had worsened in recent days. Protesters again paralyzed large parts of the city. Schools remained closed, highways were blocked. According to authorities, died on Thursday a 70-year-old street sweeper, who is apparently the first dead as a result of violence by the demonstrators. Videos on social media showed that the man in the head was hit by a brick thrown by a masked demonstrator. At the beginning of the month, a student had died after falling from a floor during protests in a parking garage.
The rallies had begun in June as a resistance to a draft bill that had since been withdrawn, which was supposed to allow extraditions to China. But demonstrators also see general freedoms endured since the 1997 transfer to the People's Republic of China and continue their protests.