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This article analyzes why the Swiss Confederation, one of the first Western countries to recognize the People’s Republic of China in 1950, was very reluctant to develop its relations with Beijing over the following three decades. By examining diplomatic incidents, political obstacles, and ideological antagonisms between the two countries, this article provides a better understanding of what drove China to bypass official channels of communication in order to prioritize “people-to-people” exchanges with partners responding to the calls of what it called “friendship diplomacy”.