The Chinese ambassador to Sweden, Gui Congyou, has caused discontent in Sweden for threatening journalists again. The opposition Christian Democrats and the Sweden Democrats called for the expulsion of Gui Congyou, but yesterday Swedish Foreign Minister Linde said he would not expel the Chinese ambassador, causing a backlash from the two opposition parties.
Lars Adaktusson, the Christian Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesman, said on his Twitter account that Linde’s move was tantamount to “accepting the unacceptable” and that he should not just respond with vague statements in the face of such threats to freedom of expression by the totalitarian Chinese government.
Bättre än så, kan ni @AnnLinde . Vad skulle Kina ha gjort mot en svensk ambassadör om vederbörande hotat kinesiska politiker eller journalister? Kineserna förtjä nar en bättre ambassadör, som faktiskt kan förbättra & ej försämra relationerna. https://t.co/QiA0tnB1p6
- Markus Wiechel (@MarkusWiechel) April 10, 2021
Markus Wiechel, foreign affairs spokesman for the Sweden Democrats, also tweeted in response to Lindh’s decision. He believes that if the Swedish ambassador had behaved in the same way in China, he would have ended up differently. He argued that a more suitable ambassador would be beneficial to the Chinese and might even improve relations between the two countries.
The Chinese embassy responded to the expulsion for the first time today after the storm, with a statement condemning a handful of politicians from both parties who made false statements and criticizing Sweden not for freedom of speech but for authoritarianism.
Foreign Minister Ann Linde stated yesterday that Sweden would not make a political statement by expelling the ambassador. She said that Sweden wants to maintain a channel of dialogue, and that the more channels of communication are available and open, the more the two countries can sustain dialogue on issues where they have divergent views.
She reiterated that it is unacceptable for the Chinese Communist Embassy to threaten journalists, and the Swedish Foreign Ministry will continue to criticize the Chinese Ambassador Gui Congyou, asking him to respect Swedish law and freedom of expression.
In addition to threatening journalists and politicians, he also spoke in 2019 to warn the Swedish government that interference in the internal affairs of the Communist Party of China would affect cultural and economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.
According to a study published by The Swedish Institute of International Relations (UI) in 2020, 2/3 of Swedes have a negative impression of the CCP, and nearly 80% distrust it.
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