Consul general says HK's biggest European trading partner sees Occupy as a good thing
STUART LAUstuart.lau@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Friday, 28 August, 2015, 12:00am
UPDATED : Friday, 28 August, 2015, 12:00am
Nikolaus Graf Lambsdorff, German consul general. Photo: Dickson Lee
Investors from Hong Kong's biggest trade partner in Europe were not put off by last year's Occupy protests, Germany's top envoy to the city says, contradicting rhetoric local officials used to criticise the pro-democracy movement.
Rather, a politically active youth contingent was "good for Hong Kong", said Consul General Nikolaus Graf Lambsdorff, who believes some protest leaders could use their skills to become successful in business.
"Most people follow the political debate in Hong Kong with a lot of sympathy," Graf Lambsdorff said in an interview.
The local government warned during the 79-day sit-ins that the city could miss out on investment and face economic woe.
But Graf Lambsdorff, whose country did €12.35 billion (HK$105.6 billion) worth of trade with the city last year, dismissed those concerns.
"If you look at the numbers, I think it is quite clear that this is not the case," the diplomat said. "I have not seen any facts that would support this view."
Asked whether he knew of any investment plans being delayed or cancelled due to Occupy, Graf Lambsdorff said: "Certainly not from the German community."
The Occupy protesters were demanding the right to open elections for the city's chief executive in 2017.
Ultimately, the protests won no concessions, but "to have so many people in the Hong Kong society engaged actively in peaceful political debate is a good thing", Graf Lambsdorff said.
"Many of these young people who are demonstrating - you can disagree with them. But I'm sure that they have learned a lot; in political terms, being part of a modern, civilised society, this is a good thing. Among many of these young people who have been politically engaged you would find future leaders and good businesspeople. That's good for Hong Kong."
This is not the first time Graf Lambsdorff, who has represented Germany in Hong Kong and Macau for two years, has waded in to the debate on Occupy.
On October 7 at the height of the protest, he praised young Hongkongers in a speech to guests including Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. He later said he had been speaking about young people in general rather than protesters.
The diplomat has been interested in politics all his life, so "the past two years I really enjoyed", he said. "I find it a good thing to have political debate and discussions ... in an open society. That's part of democracy."
He added that it was normal for a society like Hong Kong to become increasingly political.
"This is a post-industrial, very modern, in part Western- and in another part Asian-oriented society. ... Of course they [the people] are interested in politics." And is that a bad thing? "No. Not at all. That's a good thing. That's normal. That's almost natural."
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1853269/hong-kongs-political-protests-didnt-put-german-investors
