Hong Kong can rely on European Union’s support in ‘difficult times’

Officials representing the EU on diplomatic and foreign affairs tell local politicians ‘Hong Kong can count on the EU’ hours after US president signs act allowing sanctions against city’s government

Group discusses ‘various matters of mutual interest, including the latest developments’ during visit to city

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A team from the European External Action Service held talks with Hong Kong officials on Thursday. Photo: Getty

Published: 6:30pm, 28 Nov 2019Updated: 12:29am, 29 Nov 2019

Hong Kong can rely on the support of the European Union in troubled times, a visiting EU delegation to the city said on Thursday, after talks with local politicians.

“True friends stand by each other at difficult times, and Hong Kong can count on the EU in this regard,” Gunnar Wiegand, managing director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service (EEAS) said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

The team from the EEAS, which represents the EU on diplomatic and foreign affairs, was visiting Hong Kong for their annual “structured dialogue”, which the EU said earlier was intended to promote “even closer EU-Hong Kong cooperation”.

Weigand co-chaired the meeting with Hong Kong deputy commerce secretary Vivian Sum Fong-kwang.

The EU has expressed repeated concerns about the unrest in Hong Kong. Photo: Sam Tsang

During their talks, the two sides exchanged views on “various matters of mutual interest, including [the] latest developments”, the statement said.

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