BERLIN: 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.