To mark the publication of a new German book about President Xi Jinping at the apparent behest of Chinese diplomats.
Confucius Institutes at two German universities had planned online presentations of the book, Xi Jinping — The Most Powerful Man in the World by Adrian Geiges, Stern magazine’s longtime China correspondent, and Stefan Aust, former editor-in-chief of news magazine Der Spiegel.
But the book’s publisher, Piper Verlag, said the events had been “cancelled at short notice, due to Chinese pressure”. The company said that the Chinese consul in Düsseldorf, Feng Haiyang, had allegedly intervened personally to axe one of the events, which was to be held at Duisburg-Essen University.
Piper Verlag quoted an employee of the Confucius Institute as saying that “one can no longer talk about Xi Jinping as a normal person — he should not be touched or spoken about”.