File Photo: Xinhua

  
A leading Chinese expert on China-EU affairs warned that China’s bottom line must not be crossed after recent comments on Hong Kong from Siemens boss Joe Kaeser drew applause from what seemed to be Hong Kong secessionists and fury from Chinese netizens. 

File Photo: cnsphotos

 
Kaeser, CEO of German industrial conglomerate Siemens, recently made some remarks about China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

“We have always said: As long as Beijing adheres to the 'One country, two systems' agreement, German business can handle it. Indeed, it is unusual that this understanding has not been clearly confirmed by China for some time," the CEO reportedly said, according to a September 9 report by Die Welt, a German newspaper.

The report, though in German and not covered by a leading news site in English, was still noticed by some Hong Kong secessionists, who went to Kaeser’s twitter account to express gratitude. 

Kaeser’s remarks sparked anger among Chinese netizens. “No more shopping from that brand,” one Sina Weibo microblog user wrote. “Maybe earning too much money from China?” wrote another. “Arrogant, money-raking Siemens! Domestic substitution will fix you,” another user wrote.

Others said malicious firms or businessmen should be blacklisted if they don’t know how to respect the sovereignty of a country.

Siemens was not immediately available for comment on Friday. 

Cui Hongjian, director of EU Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said that there is a bottom line.

Amid the increasingly uncertain international environment, China and the EU have seen an emerging lack of trust, and only bilateral communications can resolve it, Cui told the Global Times on Friday.

It is reasonable for European firms operating in China to raise rational demands or expectations, but there should be clear boundaries to define the range of issues, and any issue out of the rational scope would not be acceptable, Cui said.

Senior executives of multinational companies should know that policies related to Hong Kong and Xinjiang are internal affairs of China. No other country or individual has the right or cause to interfere in them, Cui stressed.

In the 2019 financial year, Siemens reported sales of around 8.4 billion euros ($9.94 billion) in China and it employs more than 35,000 people in the country, according to media reports.