EU Seeks ‘Dialogue’ on Hong Kong as Germany Assumes EU Presidency

Canada Restricts Dealings With Hong Kong Over New Security Law

OTTAWA—Foreign Affairs Minister Francois−Philippe Champagne says Canada is suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong as part of a package of responses to the new security law China has imposed on the territory. In a statement, Champagne says Canada will also treat sensitive goods being exported to Hong Kong as if they were being sent to mainland China. That means outright banning some military−related goods from being traded there. China imposed strict new controls on Hong Kong this week, in what Champagne calls a violation of the “one country, two systems” philosophy that was supposed to last 50 years after Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997. Champagne’s statement says Hong Kong’s place in the global economy was based on that promise and needs to be reassessed. Canada’s moves…

A day after Germany took over the presidency of the European Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel said the 27-nation bloc would continue to discuss human rights and the rule of law with the Chinese regime, but stopped short of threatening sanctions over Beijing’s new national security law for Hong Kong.

“We will continue to seek dialogue and conversation with China about this,” said Merkel at a press conference on July 2 marking the beginning of Germany’s six-month EU presidency.

Stressing that ties with China are of “strategic importance” to the EU, she said it was important to have “a relationship of trust where one can openly say one’s opinions to each other with mutual respect.”

“And there will be differences of opinion, but I hope also common results,” the German leader added.

Asked whether Germany would consider offering asylum to Hong Kong dissidents, Merkel replied that German asylum law “is there for people everywhere” and therefore she did not think anything beyond that was needed.

In May 2019, Germany granted refugee status to two young Hong Kong activists facing charges at home.

EU Seeks ‘Dialogue’ on Hong Kong as Germany Assumes EU Presidency

Also speaking at Thursday’s press briefing, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was in both sides’ interests to maintain the special status of Hong Kong, because the city “is still the most important hub for China’s economic exchange with Europe.”

“If Europe takes a confident and united position, it will have a long-term effect on China,” she said.

Germany, the EU’s most influential member state, appears to have taken a relatively mild stance on the Hong Kong crisis, compared with the United States, Britain, and Australia.

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill on July 2 to authorize sanctions on individuals who are found to be involved in subverting Hong Kong’s autonomy, and banks who do business with them. Senators have also launched a bill to grant refugee status to Hong Kong residents at risk of persecution under the national security law.

Britain has offered a “bespoke” route to citizenship to Hong Kong residents holding the British National (Overseas) status, and is set to enact Magnitsky legislation in order to apply targeted sanctions on those who breach human rights in the city. Australia is also working on a scheme to offer a “safe haven” to Hong Kong residents.

The Merkel government’s stance on the Chinese regime is not unchallenged within Germany. Green Party leader Robert Habeck, for example, has recently criticized her unwillingness to ban the Chinese state-controlled telecoms giant Huawei from the German mobile network.

“We cannot allow the Chinese state to gain access to our hospitals, traffic routes, factories and energy systems through providers such as Huawei, which are controlled via the 5G network,” Habeck told German newspaper Handelsblatt. “We cannot bring a Trojan horse into the system.”

The Green Party leader also called for “personal sanctions” including visa bans and asset freezes against Chinese officials who violate human rights and break international law.

Andreas Fulda, a German scholar teaching at the University of Nottingham, England, has spoken out against Germany’s “failed” China policy and expressed concerns over its impact on the EU.

“Merkel’s unwillingness to set red lines not only undermines German foreign policy towards China but also makes it harder to develop a new and more assertive European strategy towards China,” wrote Fulda in a recent commentary published by think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

“At a time of heightened geopolitical tensions between the US and Communist Party-led China, Europe can no longer afford Germany’s unprincipled and failed China policy of ‘change through trade,’” he wrote.

“Chancellor Merkel should abandon her failed China policy and join Europe’s search for a more principled approach towards China,” Fulda concluded.

Isabel van Brugen and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Focus News: EU Seeks ‘Dialogue’ on Hong Kong as Germany Assumes EU Presidency

Nasdaq-Listed Chinese Company Cheated Creditors by Using Fake Gold as Loan Collateral

Nasdaq-listed Chinese jeweler Kingold Jewelry Inc. (KGJI) has received 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) loans by claiming to use tons of gold as collateral in the past five years. However, the creditors discovered that some of the gold bars are gilded copper alloy. The loans were protected by insurance issued by Chinese state-run PICC Property and Casualty Company (PICC) and some smaller insurers. But the insurers refuse to pay for the loss of Kingold’s creditors by claiming that the insurance contracts defined that they won’t take care of the loss that was created by the policyholder. However, the creditors emphasized that the insurance agreement ruled that insurers will take responsibility if the gold that is supplied by the policyholder doesn’t meet the standard. Kingold designs and manufactures jewelry. It was…