(TibetanReview.net, Mar22’21) – The government of Switzerland has said Mar 19 that it will be more critical and more outgoing on human rights issues in its new China strategy.
Calling it a policy shift, foreign minister Ignazio Cassis has said, “things are now called by name” and that tackling human rights was no longer an exclusive task of the foreign ministry but of the entire government.
He criticised China over Hong Kong and minority rights but said the country must be treated with respect, reported swissinfo.ch Mar 21, citing the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.
He has expressed concern over the shrinking of democratic rights in Hong Kong.
On the issue of human rights abuses against China’s Uighurs, he has said a clear violation of minority rights was taking place there and Switzerland had made its concerns clear to Beijing.
