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by M. K. Bhadrakumar,* India
(21 March 2023) The agreement announced on Friday in Beijing regarding the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the reopening of their embassies is a historic event. It goes way beyond an issue of Saudi-Iranian relations. China’s mediation signifies that we are witnessing a profound shift of the tectonic plates in the geopolitics of the 21st century.
by Verena Tobler-Linder,* Switzerland
(21 March 2023) (Ed.) The first part of this article was published in Newsletter No. 9 of 14 March and is available on our homepage. We are now publishing the final two parts of this article.
Interview by Joanna Lei* conducted by Pierre Heumann
(21 March 2023) Taiwanese opposition politician Joanna Lei accuses the government in Taipei of dismantling democracy and trying to distance itself more from the People’s Republic. Instead, Lei favours peaceful coexistence with mainland China, for example by founding a “commonwealth”. This is causing displeasure in Washington. According to Lei, the USA wants to assert its own interests at Taiwan’s expense. She fears that America could use the small Republic of China, i.e. Taiwan, for a proxy war against the People’s Republic.
by Verena Tobler-Linder,* Switzerland
(14 March 2023) (Editor.) In connection with the war in Ukraine, Swiss neutrality has come under serious pressure: should we or should we not support unilateral coercive measures by the EU and the USA, should we or should we not be allowed to deliver ammunition and weapons to a war zone, are unilateral statements by individual members of the Federal Council already a breach of neutrality or not? These and other questions are currently the subject of controversial debate in our country.
by Ralph Bosshard,* Switzerland
(14 March 2023) Just in time for the anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Chinese Foreign Ministry launched its initiative for a political solution to the conflict.1 [See the 12 points in the appendix, ed.]
With its cleverly formulated and launched peace proposal, Beijing has staked its claim to a say in important issues of world politics and continues to promote its vision of a multipolar world in which Russia, too, would have to find its own place. Far from letting its Russian partner drag it into a conflict at an inopportune moment, however, China is not prepared to drop it either.
(14 March 2023) (sv) The French association "Alleviate but don't kill" makes an appeal to the whole of society in view of the Civic Convention that has been meeting in France since 9 December 2022 on end-of-life issues (see box).