Angela Merkel is facing criticism in Germany for failing to take a tough line on China over the new national security law it has imposed on Hong Kong, with politicians from both opposition and government parties accusing the chancellor of being too soft on Beijing.

“What the German government said about Hong Kong was the absolute minimum, and it just wasn’t enough,” said Norbert R?ttgen, head of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee and a leading figure in Ms Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union.

EU countries this month expressed “grave concerns” at China’s imposition of the national security law, saying it “risks seriously undermining the high degree of autonomy of Hong Kong” and “having a detrimental effect on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law”.