Violent protests in Hong Kong have complicated a three-day trip to China by Chancellor Angela Merkel that she plans to use to press for greater access to markets there for German businesses suffering from a slowdown at home. Merkel is taking a large business delegation with her and wants to use the trip, which starts on Thursday, to push Beijing to open up its markets and embrace fairer competition – a task made harder by the year as China’s growing economic power gives it more leverage. Normally, the birth on Saturday of twin pandas in Berlin Zoo to parents loaned by China would have helped the diplomatic climate.
