Committee head calls for tougher EU stance against China

The chairwoman of the German Bundestag’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, Renata Alt, urges the German government and the European Union to take a tougher stance regarding relations with China. “If we still want to be taken seriously internationally, then it is important that we take a clear position,” the FDP member of parliament told Reuters news agency in an interview published Wednesday. “Germany must become more independent of China,” Alt said. “Cooperation with China must be reconsidered, and if necessary, we might have to think about sanctions on individuals, merely because of the human rights situation.”