Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

While much of Switzerland is enjoying the ski holidays, we have news from the lowlands for you.

A researcher has discovered which Swiss party ChatGPT would vote for, UBS is considering moving its headquarters abroad, a sensational judgement was handed down in Bern today and a study has revealed how Tibetans and Uyghurs in Switzerland are being monitored and persecuted by China.

I wish you an enjoyable read.

Best wishes from Bern

Keystone / Martin Ruetschi

A tightening of capital adequacy regulations has UBS contemplating a move abroad.

Could UBS really relocate its headquarters? According to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), this scenario is under informal discussion.

But why would a banking giant like UBS leave Switzerland? The reason is stricter regulations. Switzerland is considering more stringent capital adequacy requirements. If UBS were required to fully cover its foreign investments with equity in the future, it could cost the bank up to $40 billion (CHF36 billion). Pressure for a solution is also mounting from shareholders, who are reportedly concerned, according to the NZZ.

Such a relocation would be a monumental task for UBS, likely taking several years. Only a few locations would be suitable for the new headquarters. It would need to be in a financial centre capable of supporting UBS in a crisis. The NZZ suggests London or Singapore as possible destinations.

However, moving abroad would also come with drawbacks, such as the loss of the “Swissness” factor, which has traditionally attracted wealthy clients

• Read the full article in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) (paywall, in German)

EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT

Surprisingly liberal: these are the Swiss parties that ChatGPT and Deepseek would vote for.

Do you use AI programmes such as ChatGPT or the Chinese competitor Deepseek? These chatbots have an answer to everything – even if it’s wise to critically assess their responses.

However, chatbots are usually reluctant to comment on political matters. Researcher Raphael Zeder asked ChatGPT and three other AI models the Smartvote questions 200 times, as reported by Tages-Anzeiger. Smartvote is a tool that matches users with the political party that best reflects their values.

The result: ChatGPT, Claude (from the American developer Anthropic) and Gemini (from Google) would vote for the Liberal Green Party, while Deepseek would support the Social Democratic Party. ChatGPT would introduce a third gender category and impose stricter regulations on banks, whereas Deepseek would relax the criteria for naturalisation and grant more premium reductions. Claude, however, refused to answer questions about the rights of homosexual couples.

Of course, the AI programmes do not have personal opinions; their responses are based on the datasets used to train them. “If liberal views are frequently represented in the training data, the likelihood of the language models reflecting those views increases,” explains Zeder.

• Read the full article by the Tages-AnzeigerExternal link (in German)

Keystone

“We see you. We know what you’re doing”: this is China’s approach to monitoring and threatening Uyghurs and Tibetans in Switzerland.

In previous briefings we have reported about a study that investigated how Tibetans and Uyghurs are monitored and threatened in Switzerland. In a new interview, the study’s author, Ralph Weber, explains how China carries out this surveillance.

People who express political views in Switzerland are particularly targeted. They are secretly filmed or photographed. Back in China, relatives are summoned to police stations and shown these recordings as a form of intimidation. Some people reported being followed home. There are also frequent phone calls at all hours, with callers claiming to be from Chinese authorities, saying things like: “We see you. We know what you’re doing.” Threatening letters and emails are also used as means of repression.

Weber urges Switzerland to take responsibility and act against this surveillance, not only in cases of official violations. He highlights the right to demonstrate, which is heavily restricted during Xi Jinping’s state visits. “In a liberal democracy, people must be allowed to express their opinions,” he emphasises.

• You can find the full interview in the Berner ZeitungExternal link (in German)

Keystone / Anthony Anex

The police presence in Bern today resembled preparations for a state visit. However, the reason for the heightened security was the hearing at Bern’s cantonal court concerning the Hells Angels and Bandidos trial.

In May 2019, a violent clash between the rival Hells Angels and Bandidos motorbike clubs left five people injured, two seriously. In 2022, another brawl broke out in and around the Amtshaus in front of the regional court, prompting police to use rubber bullets and water cannons. One biker was sentenced to eight years in prison, while several others received suspended sentences. Six men appealed the judgements.

The three days of court hearings in late January were peaceful, as the biker clubs were summoned to the legal offices on different days. However, both groups had to be present for the pronouncement of the verdicts. The cantonal court upheld the regional court’s guilty verdicts, sentencing four Bandidos and two Hells Angels to prison terms of between six and a half and twelve months – some of which are conditional – for brawling. “A constitutional state cannot tolerate shadow societies where their own laws prevail,” stated the court president.

• The article on the biker trial by Swiss public television, SRFExternal link (in German)

Keystone / Urs Flueeler

Picture of the day

Today’s picture captures a centuries-old Swiss tradition: rafting. Before lorries could transport goods safely across Switzerland’s roads, logs were moved by water from remote mountain regions to towns and factories. On Lake Ägeri in canton Zug, raftsmen still practise this craft today.

Translated from German using DeepL/amva