Swiss pursue ‘special path’ with China, says foreign minister

A Tibetan boy at a rally in front of the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva in 2016. Switzerland has not committed to Western sanctions against China over its human rights record. © Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has played down chances of his neutral country embracing Western sanctions against China over its human rights record. He also says Switzerland won’t rush into “rash decisions” with the European Union.

“It’s a balancing act. On the one hand, we have difficult discussions with China about human rights, but on the other hand, the country is an important partner in economic and other issues,” Cassis said in an interviewExternal link with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) published on Tuesday.

“We want to take a special path that lets us hold summit meetings in Geneva like the one between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin or peace talks. We cannot play the role of bridge-builder if we always sing along in the chorus with other countries.”

The Swiss government has been discussing whether to adopt human rights sanctions which the EU imposed on China in March.

“The issue is on the table. The lead is with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. From a foreign policy perspective, the question is whether Switzerland wants to continue to play a role as an honest broker or whether it automatically wants to follow the EU. For me, the answer is clearly the first,” Cassis said.

In 1950 Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to recognise Communist China. Since 2010 China has been its biggest trading partner in Asia and its third-largest partner globally after the European Union and the United States. A bilateral free-trade agreement took effect in July 2014.

EU negotiations

In the same interview Cassis said Switzerland had to clarify its domestic priorities concerning the EU without pressure. He said patience was needed and Switzerland was working “intensively” to establish a new dialogue with the EU.

“First we have to find out what we want and what price we’re willing to pay,” Cassis told the NZZ. “The last thing we need right now are rash decisions.”

He warned that the government must not fall into the same trap as in 2013, when the negotiating mandate for the framework agreement was decided. “There should be no more negotiations based on the principle of hope,” he said.

On Monday Cassis will travel to Brussels for talks with Maros Sefcovic, the EU Commissioner who is newly responsible for the continuing dialogue with Switzerland. Cassis said the aim of the trip was to get to know Sefcovic and to determine a mutual position.

“We want to end the negative spiral. That’s why we’re releasing the cohesion contribution and no longer restricting immigration from Croatia,” he said. “Now it’s the EU’s turn.”