BEIJING, Nov 4, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held talks

with human rights lawyers critical of the regime in Beijing ahead of a
controversial trip to China on Friday, a source in his entourage told AFP.

The meeting between Scholz and the dissidents was held via an encrypted video link on Tuesday, the source said.
    
The chancellor's trip has prompted criticism at home over Berlin's growing economic reliance on Beijing, and sparked controversy for coming so soon after President Xi Jinping strengthened his hold on power in China just last month.
    
Scholz's interlocutors, who were not named, were said to be well-known in
their field, while some of them had served multi-year prison sentences, the source said.
    
The human rights lawyers participated in the video conference from a
location in the German embassy in Beijing.

 The dissidents and their families spoke "powerfully" about the challenging living and working conditions they faced in China, the source said.

 Meetings with human rights activists and other civil society
representatives are typically part of the programme for German leaders visiting China.
    
However, strict coronavirus-related restrictions in China meant that an
in-person meeting was not possible this time around.

Anyone coming into contact with Scholz would have had to remain in
quarantine for 10 days in a state-controlled facility following the encounter.

 For this reason, Scholz's office decided to conduct the meeting virtually.

During the visit to Beijing, Scholz said he hoped to "further develop"
economic cooperation, while alluding to areas of disagreement.

The chancellor indicated before his departure that he would raise thorny
topics such as respect for civil liberties and the rights of minorities in Xinjiang.
"It is crucial that we should never be silent when we see violations of
human rights," Scholz told reporters Friday at a news conference with Premier Li Keqiang.

"I did not and it should never happen when other interlocutors travel to
China and hold talks."