A rchive Date
[ 03-03-2023 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Switzerland ]
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[https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/China-and-Russia-test-Switzerland-s-long-standing-neutrality?utm_source=paid.outbrain.com&utm_campaign=BA_broad&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=RSSfeed&dicbo=v4-b691zqx-1131228701
China and Russia test Switzerland's long-standing neutrality
Critics say sanctioning only Moscow shows Bern's inconsistency on democratic values
KENJI KAWASE, Nikkei Asia chief business news correspondent March 2, 2023 15:10 JST
BERN -- Five Swiss parliamentarians were in Taipei's presidential office early last month, receiving a warm welcome from President Tsai Ing-wen.
Tsai told them that Taiwan and Switzerland "are like-minded partners that share the values of freedom and democracy." She also expressed hope for enhancing economic ties, including "security of supply chains underpinned by democratic values."
Fabian Molina, co-chair of the parliamentary friendship group with Taiwan in the Swiss Federal Assembly, echoed Tsai's sentiments and stressed the significance of the visit amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "The war has shown us how fragile a rule-based multilateral world order is and how thin the thread is on which peace hangs," he said. "Authoritarianism and war must not prevail."
The Chinese Embassy in Bern, the Swiss administrative capital, immediately condemned the lawmakers' trip, describing it as a "sneaky encounter" that made "trouble out of nothing."
The Swiss delegation was only one in a string of recent visits by Western lawmakers to Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory. The highest-profile example was then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip last August, which resulted in the biggest-ever Chinese military drills around the self-ruled island.
But the Swiss case is unique, given Bern's bedrock policy of neutrality -- a stance increasingly strained by its own democratic values.
The tension between the two has become more apparent after Bern's decision to join European Union sanctions against Russia. Critics see a disconnect between that move and Switzerland's continued embrace of China despite the United Nations human rights office in Geneva publishing a report documenting "credible evidence" of human rights abuses against Uyghur minorities in Xinjiang.
The Swiss government clearly prefers straddling the global divide rather than widening it.
"Increasing bipolarization of the world order is not something we want, and it's not in our interest," Leonard Graf, deputy head of the Asia division at the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs, told Nikkei Asia in a recent interview. He expressed "concern" over the mounting Sino-American tensions and said "geopolitical polarization in general is not good especially for a small, economically open country" like Switzerland.
But some say the global chasm, and the China question in particular, will eventually force Switzerland to pick a side.
Switzerland has long benefited from being a neutral state with an open economy. Ariane Knuesel, senior researcher at the University of Fribourg and author of a recent book called "China's European Headquarters: Switzerland and China during the Cold War," says the notion of Swiss neutrality has become dogma after surviving two world wars.
"Switzerland after World War II tried to establish itself as a 'neutral mediator' and to portray itself as champion of human rights," she said. Even though Switzerland was staunchly anti-communist and upheld democratic values, it was one of the first countries outside of the Soviet bloc to recognize the People's Republic of China in January 1950, about three months after Mao Zedong proclaimed its establishment.
Over time, Switzerland's relative importance to the Chinese declined as Western countries switched official recognition from Taipei to Beijing. But with the U.S. and its allies now taking a tougher stance on China, a neutral partner in the heart of Europe looks more and more valuable.
Beijing has been providing various economic benefits to Bern. Most recently, Switzerland made China's list of 20 countries to which tour groups are allowed to travel, starting Feb. 6. Only one other European country, Hungary, made the cut. Other destinations included Russia, Cuba and Cambodia.
In addition, China is now Switzerland's third-largest trading partner, after the EU and the U.S.
Last November, UBS Group Chair Colm Kelleher, speaking at a Hong Kong financial forum, left little doubt where Swiss business priorities lie. Kelleher said he and his banking peers were "all very pro-China." He added: "We're not reading the American press. ... Actually, we all buy the [China] story."
Yet from within, there is growing discontent.
Christoph Wiedmer, co-director of the Bern-based Society of Threatened Peoples, lamented that "Switzerland has a tendency to follow the industry interests and not the human rights interests." It is one of the few countries in Europe that has a free trade agreement with China without any human rights clauses.
"We want Switzerland not to be neutral on human rights violations," Wiedmer said. "They have to make a clear stand against Russia and China," especially now that Switzerland in January assumed a nonpermanent position on the United Nations Security Council for two years.
Simona Grano, a senior lecturer in Chinese studies at the University of Zurich, is highly critical of the Swiss government's handling of China, including the inconsistent neutrality. She described an "underlying fear of angering China" rooted in Switzerland's ever-increasing economic reliance on Beijing, adding that she does not see "any active strategy" to reduce that dependency.
Grano said Bern has become particularly cautious since watching what happened to Lithuania after the Baltic state allowed Taipei to open a representative office in its capital with the name "Taiwanese." Beijing cut off Lithuanian imports.
"We are even worse off if they do that to us," Grano said.
The Swiss government attempted to strike a balance a few years ago when it released its "China Strategy 2021-24" -- its only country-specific foreign policy declaration.
Acknowledging China as a "major global power," the document noted Beijing's increasing "authoritarian tendencies" in recent years. Nevertheless, Bern vowed to build on over seven decades of cooperation to "safeguard its interests and values through constructively critical dialogue." It expressed a desire to "act as an intermediary to unite Chinese and Western attitudes for the benefit of all."
Graf, the Foreign Department official, told Nikkei Asia that the strategy "was to define a balanced and coordinated approach toward China."
With a focus on cooperation, he said "it was an attempt to strengthen Swiss interests and Swiss values in the region."
It went down poorly with Beijing and China critics alike.
The Chinese government lashed out over the mentions of China's political system, minority issues and human rights. Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said Switzerland had made "completely groundless" accusations. Chinese Ambassador Wang Shiting called a rare news conference in Bern to convey the same message.
Meanwhile, Molina, who led the tour to Taiwan, told Nikkei that although he had been calling for such a document for years, "the government does not take relevant steps to follow these analyses."
Nicolas Walder, who co-headed the Taiwan delegation, was also critical of the strategy, as Swiss policy is "always systematically in favor of business." Human rights take a back seat to economic interests, he said, adding that he believes the government is "afraid" of China's reaction.
He pointed to President Xi Jinping's state visit to Switzerland in 2017, when the Swiss government limited demonstrations by Tibetans and their supporters. Back in 1999, then-President Jiang Zemin had told Bern that it had "lost a good friend" after pro-Tibet protesters were visible at the parliament square. Switzerland has one of the largest Tibetan diasporas in Europe.
Walder said the government would not go to the same lengths to block Catalonian independence activists or Palestinian supporters from protesting when Spanish or Israeli leaders visit.
Ralph Weber, another leading Sinologist in Switzerland, sees neutrality becoming more of a burden in the current global environment.
"Switzerland found a nice way of keeping great-power pressures away during the Cold War," the University of Basel professor said. He said there were indeed pressures during that period as well, but they were not public. "Nowadays, it really means pressures from all sides, and it's a much more uncomfortable position."
He explained that neutrality works only when people acknowledge it, but "this acknowledgment is crumbling."
Weber, who recently published extensive research on China's influence in Switzerland, conceded that "Switzerland is particularly vulnerable when it comes to [the] economy, which is not driven by resources, but by imports and exports. That's the Achilles' heel."
But, calling neutrality a mix of "fiction and reality," Weber said the rise of China will test Bern's ability to hold its delicate position.
The "Swiss government will have to walk that thin line or try to walk that thin line," he said. "Can that work?"
The University of Zurich's Grano was more direct. "Switzerland has the luxury of being surrounded by NATO countries, and we don't yet have to choose. But one day, we would not have the luxury of continuing to be so independent, if it goes on like this."
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 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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