ZURICH: The head of the Switzerland agency that implements economic sanctions desires the neutral country to adopt any punitive measures the European Union roll-outs against China if it invades Taiwan, the lady said in a newspaper interview.
China has been upgrading military activity about Taiwan seeking to stress the democratically selected government there to accept Chinese sovereignty. Taiwan’s government says the particular island’s 23 million people can decide their future, even though it wants peace, it will defend alone if attacked.
Asked by the Direkte Zuercher Zeitung document if Switzerland would certainly adopt EU sanctions against China in that case, State Secretariat regarding Economic Affairs (SECO) Director Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch said: “I strongly believe that we would embrace such sanctions.
“However, sanctions regarding China would be far more drastic (than sanctions against Russia) since the economic relations are much more important. Therefore , right now there would probably be higher discussions in the EUROPEAN UNION and the United States as well as in Switzerland compared to there were in Russian federation. But I hope it will never come to that. ”
Ineichen-Fleisch defended Switzerland’s record on adopting EUROPEAN UNION sanctions against Russian individuals and companies over Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine within February, which Moscow describes as a “special military operation”.
Pressure has mounted on Switzerland – a well known destination for Moscow’s elite and a holding location for Russian prosperity – to more quickly identify and freeze the assets associated with hundreds of sanctioned Russians.
As of this 30 days, Switzerland has frosty 6. 7 billion Swiss francs (US$7. 04 billion) worth of Russian economic assets and 15 properties, and Ineichen-Fleisch said this find was unlikely to alter much.
“We at SECO have zero indication that there are several assets of approved persons that have not really yet been found, ” she said.