Status: 26.12.2023, 17:26 PM
By: Patrick Mayer
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Between Christmas and New Year's Eve, an alleged spying by China caused a stir in Switzerland. An alleged agent was arrested. The case has to do with U.S. fighter jets.
Meiringen - Suspenseful spy thriller in the middle of the Christmas season, with a camouflaged Chinese restaurant in the middle of the Alps as the plot. The news of the alleged arrest of three Chinese citizens has made headlines far beyond Switzerland between the holidays and New Year's Eve.
Chinese espionage in Switzerland? F-35 fighter jet case causes a stir
The man, his wife and his son were suspected of having spied on a military airfield of the Swiss Air Force in the Bernese Oberland on behalf of Beijing. After all, the Swiss are currently stationing their air squadron there with the state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jets from the USA.
According to media reports, Chinese innkeepers had leased the "Rössli" hotel not far from the runway. Supposedly to observe from there the Lockheed Martin F-35 "Lightning II", which Switzerland bought from the United States for its air forces. Specifically, in September 2022, Bern announced that it would buy 36 F-35A fighter jets in the context of the Ukraine war.
The Americans also use the Meiringen military airfield in Switzerland. Here you can see two Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jets of the US Navy. © IMAGO / Björn Trotsky
As the Tages-Anzeiger now reports, plainclothes police officers of the Bern cantonal police stormed the "Rössli" last summer and arrested the host family. Since then, the inn in Meiringen has been closed, rumors of a large-scale espionage operation are making the rounds, the newspaper writes on its news website.
F-35 fighter jets in the sights of Chinese spies: Meiringen military airfield comes into focus
According to the report, the alleged espionage was not aimed at the Swiss Air Force, which operates the second pillar for the air defense of the entire country with its approximately 8.7 million inhabitants in Meiringen on Lake Breinzer, next to thePayerne military airfield on Lake Neuernburg. However, the Swiss are rehearsing emergencies and deployment scenarios there with their new F-35 fighter jets.
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Stealth fighter jet from the USA: a Lockheed Martin F-35 "Lightning II". (Symbolic photo) © IMAGO/U.S. Air Force
As the Berner Zeitung reported at the beginning of December, for example, up to 2500 launches of the new F-35 squadron are planned from Meiringen per year. Since most of the area is surrounded by a chain-link fence, the fighter planes can be easily observed on the approximately 2000-meter-long airfield. Of course, this also applies to the take-off and landing behavior of the fifth-generation stealth fighter jets.
Directly at Swiss military airfield: Three Chinese citizens allegedly arrested
The three arrested Chinese citizens are said to have operated the "Rössli" since 2018. According to the Tages-Anzeiger, in 2022 they were targeted by the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS), which is responsible for combating espionage in Switzerland, among other things. Explosive: According to Google Maps, the hotel-restaurant "Rössli" is located directly at the military airfield, from the rooms on the upper floors you can probably look directly over to the airfield.
The hotel-restaurant "Rössli" is located right next to the military airfield Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland. © Screenshot Google Maps
As Blick writes, the Swiss Air Force had already tested the F-35 in Meiringen in 2019. Mysteriously, the NDB was probably unable to prove the alleged espionage to the host family and had to let father, mother and son go. However, they had neither a business permit nor a residence permit, the tabloid writes. The family from China has since left the Alpine country and has never reappeared. After a (supposed) spy thriller on James Bond level. (pm)