And that means there’s no conditionality, they’re not conditional on receiving technology or financing, there’s no trap doors, there’s no Swiss cheese in that kind of an agreement.

My comments:

Swiss cheese is a kind of cheese that has large holes in it. Well, not all Swiss cheeses have holes in them, but what Switzerland is famous for in the cheese department is this firm pale yellow kind, the kind with large holes therein.

Hence, the long and short of it is, Swiss cheese gets to stand for, figuratively speaking, holes, or loopholes, as in laws which allow you to avoid doing what you’re supposed to do.

Another media example (Volcker: Rule is no Swiss cheese, CityAM.com, June 22, 2010):

WHITE House economic adviser Paul Volcker has told US lawmakers they should not allow his proposed Volcker rule limiting risky trading by banks to become filled with holes.

“He has told several people, including some lawmakers, that he does not want the Volcker rule to look like Swiss cheese.”

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Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.