A fascinating story of intrigue has arisen surrounding a small hotel in the Swiss Alps, implicating the world’s most expensive fighter jet and the ongoing jockeying between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.
Swiss Hotel At The Center Of Geopolitics, China-US relations, And The F-35 Jet
A century-old chalet called Hotel Rössli in Unterbach, Switzerland has gained the urgent attention of US intelligence agencies because of its unique location…and (now former) owners. I was spellbound reading this story in the Wall Street Journal, but will give you the TLDR version below:
- In 2018 the Wang family, from Mainland China, bought Hotel Rössli in the Swiss Alps
- The hotel sits 100 yards from a strategic Swiss military base
- Not only is it a military base, but it is where Switzerland will store the F-35s, the world’s most advanced jet fighter, which it purchased from the United States in 2020 and is set for delivery in 2028
- Chinese attempts to ascertain and steal the technology of this aircraft were flagged by the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service, US and British intelligence agencies, and other European counterparts
- The military base in Unterbach where the F-35s are to be stored lacked basic security features commensurate with guarding top-secret technology
- There are no walls or other barriers to protect these planes; cows crossed the runway at will
- Pursuant to American requests, Swiss authorities raided the hotel and the Wangs are now gone, having returned to the Mainland
- They were led away in handcuffs for “permitting violations”
- China’s foreign minister told the Wall Street Journal that his country is “firmly opposed espionage” but there are many unanswered questions and the Swiss intelligence agencies have independently and repeatedly warned of Chinese espionage for the last two decades
- NSA documents leaked from Edward Snowden paint a very different (and active) image of Chinese espionage around the world
- The hotel served as the only restaurant and coffee shop in town
- When the Wangs arrived, the prior owner intended to teach them how to continue cooking Swiss favorites, but the Wangs sat down and asked to be served, refusing to learn
- It emerged they had no cooking experience and were unwilling to “even crack an egg” according to the former owner
- Shortly after the acquisition, the restaurant was shut down
- The hotel, purchased for about 1MN USD, was in the name of Dawei Wang, the son of the Wangs, who studied at a Swiss hotel management school
- Yet residents say he did not know how to make café au lait, bought cheap bread from the grocery store, and would spend many weekends out of town with his friends, complaining about the high cost of labor and goods in Switzerland
- It has since emerged that Wang grew up in a diplomat’s household, with his father working in Germany
- The entire Wang family would spend the Christmas holidays in Beijing, which were traditionally the most profitable time of year for the hotel
- The hotel is now closed indefinitely, with the tables still set for breakfast with muesli and marmalade in the hotel restaurant
- The Wangs had no legal residency in Switzerland; they traveled on tourist visas
- After their return to China, the Wangs listed the hotel for sale at a price of $1.8 million
- It sold: to the Swiss military
It’s a fascinating story, isn’t it? Was it a total overreaction by US, British, and Swiss officials or a recognition that were many things that did not add up, that Beijing’s National Security Law obliges any Chinese citizen to become an espionage agent of the state, upon request, and that China has shown intense interest in the F-35 jet, which would purportedly gives the US a great upper-hand in any conflict with China.
People don’t realize the extent that the Chinese and Russians will go for intelligence. Many more interesting stories are never told.
This interesting story is also not told . The link to the article gives only one paragraph .
China IS opposed to espionage unless they’re the ones engaging in it.
Fvck China
You mean Israel.
This reminds me of a story I heard somewhere. There is a certain town on the coast of France where they dock their nuclear submarines. There has been a very noticeable uptick in the dock workers of the town getting married to Chinese foreign students! Coincidence? Who knows… Love is love, no?
Let’s be realistic, espionage is done by all sides. The US and other countries have similar attempts, it’s just a lot easier for operatives to take advantage of open societies vs tightly controlled ones.
It’s part of the game. Sometimes you get a strategic advantage, sometimes your cover gets blown. Game of cat and mouse, cloak and daggers. Economic and technology is just as important as old fashioned espionage.
China CCCP is evil. Ask the Uyghur people
OK … being Swiss let me add a few points:
– this story is not new and has been around for months
– while many elements are correct, some points are just fake news – eg:
– the Airbase is called Meiringen (LSMM) – and no, there no Cows crossing the runway (but what a nice stereotype LOL!)
– Meiringen is quite vibrant and there are plenty of bars, restaurants etc….
– … the place mentioned (Rössli) is in the middle of nowhere, miles from any attractions or entertainment …. But close to the Runway
That said – the main elementts of the story about espionage and shady ownership hold true… just trying to correct some of the fake news and poor research.
Appreciate it. Danke.
It’s ridiculous people complain about China allegedly doing this when the U.S. government does this not just to foreign countries but U.S. citizens on a daily basis. The U.S. government also overthrows governments from the one in Ukraine in 2014 with CIA operations to all the stuff they did in Central and South America.
China is not good but neither is the U.S. government. It’s not China persecuting Christians, pushing lgbt, and encouraging open borders. It’s the U.S. government who are bought and paid for by Israel doing this.
The F-35 is a disaster like the Zumwalt Destroyer or V-22. They wouldn’t learn anything useful anyway. Russia is years ahead on hypersonic missiles and missile defense. China has just as good jets as the F-35.
Unfortunately, in terms of industrial espionage, the US has nothing to learn from China.
Are you seriously this uninformed? I never said anything about the US, which is probably far more egregious in terms of its espionage.
But you say China is not persecuting Christians?! What are you smoking?
Well, there is that little situation where China unleashed a global pandemic on the world and hid it all before it was too late. Sure, we are all involved in espionage. But some are more willing to help prevent millions from dying around the world.
DA is just spewing words with nothing to back them up.
We’ve seen how the Russian “years ahead” hypersonic missles are changing the war in Ukraine (not).
Another anti-American spewing hate around. They’re less than a dime a dozen, more a penny a pound.
@matthew, I don’t have much to add as much Verve already said it all, but my in-laws are Swiss and they took my wife and I to Meiringen for a quick holiday when we visited them last.
Meiringen is a very pretty part of Switzerland with some interesting history as it was the town where the fictitious characters Sherlock Holmes fought his nemesis Professor Moriarty and the Reichenbach Falls (which are gorgeous).
Parkhotel du Sauvage is a wonderful hotel and if you ever want to wonderful hotel to stay at and review, I would recommend it highly.
Appreciate the recommendation! Switzerland is truly one of my favorite countries in the world and somewhere I could easily relocate to under the right circumstances.
Man, is there a part of Switzerland that is NOT pretty?
Going there (again) in a few weeks. It’s gonna be glorious.