Plane fault cancels Swiss foreign minister’s trip to China
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has been forced to cancel a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in China following a technical fault on his government jet.
This content was published on
2 minutes
swissinfo.ch/mga
العربية
ar
عطل فني في طائرة يُلغي زيارة وزير الخارجية السويسري إلى الصين
Cassis was forced to divert to Moscow en route to the eastern Zhejiand province of China and later tweeted that his meeting with Wang Yi would no longer take place on Saturday. “We will look for a new date as soon as possible,” read his tweet.
Instead, the foreign ministers had a conversation over the phone, according to a tweet by Cassis on Saturday.
They discussed multilateralism, a resumption of a dialogue about human rights and China’s role as a host of the Olympic Winter Games next February, it said.
Cassis was also due to present Switzerland’s new China Strategy, which was adopted by the government in March. Speaking to the media earlier this month, Cassis said that Switzerland was unlikely to rush into joining European Union sanctions against China. Instead, he spoke of developing a “special path”.
“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 told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper.
But Cassis also made clear that, despite Switzerland withdrawing support for a UN statement condemning crimes in Xinjiang, he would not shy away from bringing up human rights issues with China.
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.
Switzerland recently hosted top American and Chinese diplomats for talks aimed at smoothing tensions between the two powers.
This content was published on
Swiss public broadcasters RTS and SRF are drastically reducing their communications via the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Israel: president of Swiss universities rejects academic boycott
This content was published on
Luciana Vaccaro, president of Swissuniversities, the umbrella group of Swiss universities, is not in favour of an academic boycott of Israeli universities.
First large-scale alpine solar plant approved in Switzerland
This content was published on
The approval was met with satisfaction by the project's organisers, but it also brings with it a certain amount of pressure.
Medieval squirrels may have ‘helped spread leprosy’
This content was published on
An examination of squirrel remains in the United Kingdom has opened up interesting questions and possibilities in terms of the history of the disease.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Pressure builds for a diplomatic boycott of Beijing Games
This content was published on
Switzerland will struggle to defy calls to skip the Winter Olympics, if other democratic states decide to stage a diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022.
This content was published on
The Swiss government says its first ever China strategy is intended to create “greater coherence" in its relations with Beijing.
This content was published on
US national security advisor Jake Sullivan and Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi are meeting in talks aimed at smoothing tensions between the powers.
Switzerland and China to hold strategic talks on Saturday
This content was published on
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, is set to fly to China to “pursue bilateral dialogue” with his Chinese counterpart.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.