A German politician has accused Western countries of waging a "new Cold War" against China as a prominent China expert in Germany deplored the West's demonization of the country.

"Every generation seems to need its own war before it is capable and wise enough to draw lessons from that, be it a hot war or a cold war," Antje Vollmer, a former vice-president of the German parliament, wrote in an article published in the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Tuesday.

"It took barely 10 years after the end of the last Cold War before a new hot war was declared - the war on terror," she said.

"Can the war on terror be won with weapons?" Vollmer asked. Her answer was "No".

"At a time when we are already in an ideological confrontation with Islamic and Arab countries, at a time when we have maneuvered ourselves into a sort of diplomatic confrontation with Russia, now again a general system confrontation with China? Every fifth person in the world is Chinese. Obviously the West has too much self confidence," said Vollmer.

Meanwhile, Thomas Heberer, a leading China expert in Germany, accused the West of "demonizing" China in an article published yesterday in the German daily Die Tageszeitung.

"After the idolization of the 1990s, we are now at a stage of demonization," Heberer said.

"This is partly due to the rise of China and the associated false fears that China could become an economic and political threat to the West.

"What is especially fatal is that the huge successes and changes in the course of China's reform policy since the late 1970s are now forgotten."

He also pointed out that the real causes and background of the Tibet issue are not understood by the West.

"No country in the world has ever recognized the independence of Tibet or declared that Tibet is an 'occupied country'. For all countries in the world, Tibet is Chinese territory," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2008)