The German government should take a moral stance on human rights and the protection of basic democratic rights in its trade relations with Communist China.

Nathan Law, one of the most prominent representatives of the Hong Kong democracy movement, asked Germany to take targeted sanctions against Communist China. As a sign of the protest against the Chinese security law in Hong Kong, the federal government must "consider sanctions against officials of the governments in Beijing and Hong Kong," said Law in an interview with the AFP news agency. We need measures to keep the authoritarian, expansionist, Chinese system in check, he emphasised.

The 27-year-old Law, who fled to London because of the "security" law, had also addressed his demands in a letter to German Foreign Minister Hon. Haiko Maas.

Law: Introduce human rights clauses

Instead of being guided by trade interests, the government in Berlin must "position itself clearly with regard to human rights and the protection of basic democratic rights," Mr Law stated. It also includes injustice inflected on the people of Tibet, the oppressed Muslim minority of the Uighurs in the region of Xinjiang and Beijing's military threats against Taiwan.

Mr Law suggested that Western governments introduce human rights clauses in trade with Beijing. "China could not escape these rules, even with important trading partners, if everyone acted accordingly," stated Mr Law. In his opinion, Germany could take on this responsibility and initiate such a measure.

It must be clear that the previous strategy towards Communist China had failed: "The policy of appeasement was definitely the wrong approach in the past few decades, it was a complete failure."

Mr Law was elected in 2016 as the youngest MP to date in the Hong Kong Parliament. He was sentenced to eight months in prison for participating in the 2014 student Umbrella Movement. In Hong Kong, Mr Law is currently being sought for his participation in the pro-democratic protests of 2019.

German politicians from the coalition and opposition also demanded from the federal government a clear criticism of the Communist China.