Germany has granted asylum to two Hong Kong activists in a sign of growing concern over how dissent is dealt with in the territory.

In interviews with The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times published on Wednesday, Ray Wong Toi Yeung said he and fellow pro-democracy protester Alan Li Tung Sing were granted asylum last year.

Germany's Interior Ministry would not give names due to privacy regulations, but confirmed it had granted two people from Hong Kong asylum last year. Wong and Li are the only dissidents known to have been in Germany seeking protection.

Wong told the Journal he chose to reveal his asylum status now in response to a proposed Hong Kong law that would allow criminal suspects to be handed over to mainland China.