"Relationship will suffer": China warns Switzerland against accepting EU sanctions

Switzerland has moved away from its neutrality a little since the Ukraine war. Sanctions against China are in the air, but the first threats are already coming from the Far East. Economically, Switzerland cannot actually afford worse relations with the People’s Republic.

China is threatening Switzerland with a deterioration in relations if it accepts EU sanctions against the People’s Republic. “Should Switzerland take over the sanctions and the situation develop in an uncontrolled direction, Chinese-Swiss relations will suffer,” said the Chinese ambassador in Bern, Wang Shihting, to the “Neue Züricher Zeitung”.

The EU accuses China of mass arrests of Muslim Uyghurs and human rights violations. In this context, the international community last year imposed the first sanctions on people and institutions in China since the suppression of the protests on Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989.

Switzerland has not yet decided whether to join the EU sanctions. “The sanctions violate international law, they only serve to contain China,” the newspaper quoted the ambassador as saying. China is the country’s most important trading partner after the EU and the USA.

Economically, Switzerland cannot actually afford worse relations with the People’s Republic. According to Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter, the Swiss will face difficult economic years. The reasons for this are the stagnation in the USA, the impending recession in the euro area, weak economic forecasts for China due to the restrictive corona policy, falling purchasing power as a result of inflation and debt, said Keller-Sutter of the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”.

“I consider this mixed situation to be very difficult. We will also feel this in Switzerland. Difficult economic years await us.” Keller-Sutter is a member of the Federal Council of Switzerland. The Swiss government lowered its growth forecast in September due to the sluggish economy in Europe and other export markets.

The federal economists based at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) only expect an increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.0 percent in 2022. In June they had estimated an increase of 2.6 percent. For 2023, the expert group lowered its growth forecast to 1.1 (previously: 1.9) percent.