A Western nation’s willingness to deepen scientific collaboration with China may provoke concern in the United States. On October 29, the Swiss federal government announced that Switzerland aims to strengthen cooperation with China in research and development. During her upcoming visit to China, Swiss Federal President Viola Amherd is set to sign a protocol on scientific data exchange with Chinese counterparts. The Swiss Federal Council had already approved on October 28 a cross-border management agreement governing scientific data in joint R&D initiatives between Switzerland and China, which will be formalized during Amherd’s visit.
Switzerland’s move is likely to unsettle U.S. officials. Moreover, the two countries are also expected to sign an upgraded protocol to the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement—a revised version of the first mainland European FTA with China, originally implemented in 2014, which concluded negotiations in August this year. Why might Washington react strongly? Over recent years, the United States has pursued a strategy of technological decoupling from China, imposing export controls on semiconductors and restricting academic exchanges, aiming to isolate China from global research networks.
Switzerland’s initiative at this juncture—establishing a compliant, stable, and legally binding mechanism for scientific data sharing—effectively opens a fissure in what has been described as an “iron curtain” of technological containment. Nor is Switzerland a minor player in science and technology. It ranks among the world leaders in biomedicine, materials science, artificial intelligence, and precision instrumentation, home to elite institutions such as ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne.
China and Switzerland have maintained a scientific cooperation framework since their initial agreement in 1989, establishing deep institutional foundations. Naturally, Switzerland has long pursued a balanced approach between the United States and China. It was one of the first Western nations to recognize the People’s Republic of China (establishing diplomatic relations in 1950) and the first country on the European continent to conclude a free trade agreement with China. This tradition of non-alignment provides Switzerland with the strategic autonomy to maintain independence amid U.S. pressure.
In recent years, the United States has sought to rally European allies in efforts to contain China, but divisions within Europe have grown increasingly evident. Switzerland’s action—formally signing a research data agreement—conveys a broader message: not all Western nations are prepared to follow the U.S.-led campaign to erect a technological “iron curtain.”
Original: toutiao.com/article/1880374675603532/
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