The Federal Council sees no need: Switzerland waives sanctions against China

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The Federal Council made the decision not to adopt the thematic sanctions against China that existed until then on the basis of a weighing of interests based on various foreign policy and legal criteria, the Federal Ministry of Economy, Education and Research announced ( WBF) is known. Sunday at the request of Keystone.SDA with.

The WBF confirmed an article in “NZZ am Sonntag.” The sanctions include punitive measures against those responsible for the oppression of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. They were released in March 2021.

Not a fundamental decision

The decision was not communicated because several legal questions remained open regarding the possible subsequent adoption of other thematic sanctions. These have not yet been fully clarified.

Furthermore, the non-adoption of the sanctions does not constitute a change in Swiss practice and no fundamental decision has been made not to adopt the existing and future sanctions. The Federal Council therefore did not consider it necessary to communicate the decision.

As the article goes on to say, if the EU issues new thematic sanctions, the federal government will investigate and possibly support them. But this approach can be applied to future EU sanctions. The WBF continues that previous projects are not part of it.

NGOs criticize Switzerland

The thematic sanctions against China, which were issued by the EU in March 2021, are therefore off the table. When the Switzerland-China strategy for the years 2021-2024 was presented in March 2021, it was said that the Federal Council was committed to an independent policy with a constructive, critical dialogue – including on human rights.

Switzerland was criticized, among others, by the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) and Tibetan organizations for not taking the EU sanctions. There were also critical voices in Swiss politics. (SDA)

Source:Blick