Switzerland will sign an accord backing China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” when President Ueli Maurer visits China this month, cementing ties with a major trading partner as other Western countries view the gargantuan project with scepticism. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s New Silk Road initiative has been controversial particularly in Washington, which views it as a way to spread Chinese influence abroad and saddle countries with unsustainable debt, a charge Beijing rejects.
Locked in a trade war with China, the US has been particularly critical of Italy’s decision to sign up to the plan, the first for a G7 nation. Others in the West are less keen to jump aboard, although many have kept an open mind.Neutral Switzerland sees the belt and road accord to be signed during Maurer’s trip as a way to support economic development, especially in central Asia.
Locked in a trade war with China, the US has been particularly critical of Italy’s decision to sign up to the plan, the first for a G7 nation. Others in the West are less keen to jump aboard, although many have kept an open mind.Neutral Switzerland sees the belt and road accord to be signed during Maurer’s trip as a way to support economic development, especially in central Asia.
