Reinhard Bütikofer is a German politician who has been a member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2009. After engaging in radical politics as a student at Heidelberg University, he joined the German Green Party in 1984, going on to become its co-president from 2002–2008. Now in his third term as an MEP, Bütikofer serves as a member of the parliament’s foreign relations committee and chair of its China delegation.
Reinhard Bütikofer.Illustration by Lauren Crow
Q: In your role as chair of the European Parliament’s delegation on China, you were placed under sanctions earlier this year following the EU’s own imposition of sanctions against Chinese officials who were alleged to be involved in the government’s policy towards the Uighurs in Xinjiang. From a personal perspective, can you tell us how those sanctions have affected you so far?
A: I would first want to point out the difference between the sanctions that had been imposed by the European side and the count
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