Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch expects the country to take any European Union punitive action against China if it invades Taiwan, she told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper.

When asked whether Switzerland would accept EU sanctions against China in this case, Ineichen-Fleisch said: "I strongly believe that we would adopt such sanctions."

"However, sanctions in the case of China would be far more drastic (than sanctions against Russia) because the economic relations are much more important. Therefore, there would probably be greater discussions in the EU and the United States as well as in Switzerland than there were in Russia. But I hope it will never come to that."

Ineichen-Fleisch also defended Switzerland's position on the adoption of EU sanctions on Russian individuals and companies.

As of this month, Switzerland has frozen 6.7 billion Swiss francs ($7.04 billion) in Russian financial assets and 15 properties, a figure that Ineichen-Fleisch said is unlikely to change much.