Switzerland’s China problem; a murder plot in Istanbul and tracking Huwaei in Europe
Europe is ready to team up with the incoming U.S. administration on containing China, says the EU’s foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell. So what lies in store? In a (pre-election) interview Biden aide Michael Carpenter highlighted the connectivity-boosting Three Seas Initiative. The Western Balkans and Greece are obvious candidates for membership. Meanwhile, it’s business as usual for the party-state and its critics, with bullying tactics meeting (in some countries) increasing resistance.
The Netherlands and Ireland joined Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Finland in suspending extradition treaties with Hong Kong. European countries that fail to follow suit should face hard questions — particularly after the latest Chinese power grab in the supposedly autonomous territory. But the party-state is in no mood to listen to criticism. After the British MP Siobhain McDonagh put in a plea for the HK12 — the democracy activists caught fleeing Hong Kong for Taiwan — she got a scolding from the Chinese embassy in London.
Other critics get more pointed reminders. A Uyghur emigre in Turkey is in critical condition after an assassination attempt. Yusufjan Amet was released from detention camps in his occupied homeland on condition that he spied on the Uyghur diaspora. His mother is a hostage. But he broke with his Chinese case officers and began exposing their methods. At the time of the attack he was preparing to give an interview to the BBC. The Istanbul police are investigating. Another Uyghur resident of Turkey, Hamidulla Wali, is on the run in Saudi Arabia, where the authorities, together with Chinese officials, are, he says, trying to arrest and extradite him.
Few would notice Jörg Wuttke, the head of European Chamber of Commerce in China, talking about how his members try (not very hard, many would say) to safeguard human rights.