Hotel Espionage
Chasing Chinese spies in Switzerland
A hotel run by a Chinese family near Meiringen airport in Switzerland allegedly served as a base for military espionage. This report investigates how the Chinese government recruits expatriated citizens into becoming informants.
"This type of espionage, if it is one, rarely ends up in the media. Countries often settle this very discreetly among themselves" says Ralph Weber, a professor at the University of Basel. He believes that China is targeting US allies, with looser military security, to spy on the next generation F-35 aircraft. Cases of the Chinese government recruiting citizens based overseas, using bribes or gifts, are not uncommon. "I would have had to provide information to the Chinese government. In return, I would have been bought a house in Switzerland" says Kerim Sharif, a Uyghur Chinese citizen who declined the government's attempt to recruit him to observe Chinese dissidents.
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