Plain-clothes state security agents followed expelled German journalist Juergen Kremb as he tried to attend his last Foreign Ministry briefing in Beijing yesterday. Agents driving a Mercedes-Benz filmed Kremb throughout the day even as the Der Spiegel correspondent, accompanied by a German diplomat, was turned away at the ministry gates. Inside, spokesman Tang Guoqiang fended off a barrage of questions about a 48-hour expulsion order placed on Kremb on Wednesday. Mr Tang said: 'He held secret documents illegally. In line with our State Security Law, the security administration searched his residence and found a large amount of proof on November 17.' Eight agents burst into Kremb's office on Tuesday. They interrogated him and searched the premises for four hours, but Kremb refused to make any confession even after they produced handcuffs and said they had an arrest warrant. Bonn reacted angrily, but Mr Tang said: 'This is an isolated case and Kremb himself must bear all the responsibilities. 'It has no relation to Sino-German ties. It won't have any influence on the already good existing relationship between Germany and China.' Mr Tang declined to say whether Kremb was barred from entering Hong Kong during the five years he is banned from China. 'The SAR Government will make its own decision on certain matters,' he said. Outside the ministry, Kremb said he thought state security officials were trying to punish him for his friendship with exiled dissident Wei Jingsheng. 'This is like East Germany or the Soviet Union,' said Kremb. 'It cannot last much longer. When it is a democracy I will be back.'