Hong Kong activists in Germany protest outside Merkel's office ahead of her China trip

Record ID: 1430218

  • Title: Hong Kong activists in Germany protest outside Merkel's office ahead of her China trip
  • Date: 5th September 2019
  • Summary: PROTESTERS WITH BANNER OUTSIDE CHANCELLERY
  • Embargoed: 19th September 2019 08:13
  • Keywords: Hong Kong protesters Berlin Merkel China trip Beijing message government chancellery
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • City: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA005AVDQCSN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Some two dozen activists calling themselves "Hong Kongers in Germany Concern Group" protested outside Berlin's chancellery on Thursday ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel's trip to China later in the day.
    Holding a placard reading in English "Dear Merkel, please stand with Hong Kong," the demonstrators demanded the German chancellor support them "in spirit and in deed" for more democracy.
    A woman who gave her name as Amy Siu asked Merkel to deliver a "very clear message to the Chinese government that such violence is not acceptable."
    Violent protests in Hong Kong have complicated Merkel's three-day trip to China that she plans to use to push for greater access to markets there for German businesses suffering from a slowdown at home.
    She is taking a large business delegation with her and wants to use the trip to press Beijing to open up its markets and embrace fairer competition - a task made harder by the year as China's growing economic power gives it more leverage.
    The Hong Kong protests mark the biggest popular challenge to the rule of Chinese President Xi Jinping since he took power in 2012.
    (Production: Inke Kappeler, Michele Sani)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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