Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

As we head into a three-day weekend here (Whit Monday is coming up), many might be hoping to do a spot of relaxing. Others are no doubt planning a rowdy night out. But to help you do both, the benevolent authorities in Geneva have dropped a big mindfulness blob into the middle of the city: Breathe (see photo) is a 15-metre-wide sphere, active at night, which “inhales” and “exhales” at the serene rate of five times a minute – with the goal of encouraging passers-by to do the same. Om into the long weekend…

Keystone/Ennio Leanza

In the news: FIFA’s uncertain future in Switzerland.

• FIFA Congress members in Bangkok today changed the body’s statutes to make possible a shift of its HQ away from Zurich. While the footballing organisation says it is still “happy” in the Swiss city, speculation about a move has been rife.
• Last year, 305 cases of verbal abuse or attacks against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex or queer (LGBTIQ) people were reported to the Swiss LGBTIQ Helpline, the helpline’s operators said today. The figure more than doubled compared to 2022.
• Some 45% of native Swiss wild bee species are endangered, the Federal Office for the Environment said today. Problems include an insufficient number of flowers from which the bees can collect pollen and nectar, as well as a lack of nesting sites.

Keystone/Peter Klaunzer

Alpine espionage: Wall Street Journal looks into Chinese innkeepers.

The picturesque area around Meiringen, canton Bern, is probably best known as the place where Sherlock Holmes plunged to his death in Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1893 thriller “The Final Problem”. In the past few years, it has become the site of a new detective drama. Last June, police raided a small hotel in the region, arresting and then deporting two of its Chinese owners: officially because they lacked proper work permits, but reportedly because they were suspected of espionage – their hotel (on the right in photo above) was located just a stone’s throw from a Swiss military airbase.

The story, as outlined again in a long feature yesterdayExternal link in the Wall Street Journal, centres on a dramatic question: were the Wangs mere “small-time innkeepers”, or rather “a secret weapon in Beijing’s decadelong effort to capture one of America’s most closely protected military secrets”? The “secret” in question is the ultra-modern US F-35 fighter jet, several models of which the Swiss army has agreed to buy; US intelligence was worried that the Chinese hoteliers were trying to catch a glimpse of the precious technology.

While the WSJ couldn’t answer the question of whether they were indeed secret agents, it did assert that the whole affair was a major element in “an escalating spy war” between the superpowers. As for neutral Switzerland, it’s not naïve enough to think there’s no Chinese spying going on here. But in the case of the “tumbledown” hotel near Meiringen, the WSJ writes that Bern “didn’t seem to appreciate the gravity” of repeated warnings by US and UK officials; its slowness in acting even reportedly incurred the frustration of the US Ambassador.

Since then the story has moved on, and the hotel has changed hands. But an element of suspense remains: the new owner is – reportedly – the Swiss military.

Keystone/Photopress-Archiv/Str

Dialogue: the legacy of forced social “care” measures

Throughout the 20th century, several hundred thousand people – the exact number is unknown – were victims of a dark element of Swiss history: administrative “care” measures. These coercive measures, which included forced work placements, were a way for authorities to deal with the most destitute and vulnerable (i.e. “problematic”) people in society. The government eventually apologised to victims in 2013, setting up a compensation fund of CHF300 million ($300 million) in the process.

As we wrote in yesterday’s briefing, a long-term national study of what has since changed has now been published. And while progress in the welfare system is clear, the study also found that some things need to change: notably, coercion has not been removed entirely from the system, it said. The voice of the vulnerable people involved also needs to be better heard, the study found. Do you have an opinion or an input on this topic? Let us know in this week’s edition of our “Dialogue” platform.