Bern, July 31 (FN Agency) There will be tougher sanctions against China in the event it invades Taiwan than those imposed against Russia over the military operation in Ukraine, Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Director Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch said on Saturday. “I firmly believe that we will adopt such sanctions,” Ineichen-Fleisch told Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung, answering the question whether Switzerland will support potential EU sanctions against Beijing. “However, in China’s case, sanctions will be far more radical [than sanctions against Russia], as the economic relations are far more significant,” Ineichen-Fleisch said.
The imposition of sanctions against China would also require more discussion than Russia restrictions both in the European Union and the United States, as well as in Switzerland, the SECO chief noted, adding that she hopes the situation would never come to this. Beijing considers Taiwan an unalienable part of its sovereign territory and opposes any official contacts between the island and other countries. Allegations have frequented in recent months among Western officials and media that Beijing nurtures plan to invade Taiwan. In response to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the West launched comprehensive sanctions against Russia, which resulted in major supply chain disruptions across the globe, affecting agricultural exports, exacerbating inflation and pushing the world toward major food and energy crises.