Tensions between China and Sweden aren’t hurting trade, researchers say
- Despite tense relations, Chinese investment in the country saw a threefold increase last year, and bilateral trade grew 15 per cent
- Swedish institute analysed nearly 60 statements issued by Chinese embassy accusing media, police and others of misrepresenting the country
Trade and investment between China and Sweden is growing despite tensions over human rights issues, suggesting Beijing has not applied economic pressure on Stockholm, Swedish researchers say.
In a report released on Monday, the Swedish Institute of International Affairs said the Chinese embassy in Stockholm had issued nearly 60 statements since the start of 2018 accusing media, police and others in Sweden of misrepresenting China.
The statements were prompted by issues including the plight of a detained Swedish bookseller, Beijing’s treatment of Muslims in the Xinjiang region, and a row over a group of Chinese tourists being turned away from a Stockholm hotel.
But the report, titled “China’s propaganda campaign in Sweden, 2018–19”, concluded that although relations between the two countries had deteriorated, their bilateral economic ties expanded in 2018.
Chinese investment in Sweden surged last year, with a threefold increase from US$1.5 billion in 2017 to US$4.5 billion in 2018, according to data from Rhodium Group.
Meanwhile, bilateral trade hit US$17.15 billion last year, a 15 per cent increase from 2017, Chinese embassy figures showed.
Trade with Sweden is small compared to the country’s other European partners like Germany, where bilateral trade with China was about US$220 billion last year, but far larger than that with Greece at US$7 billion in 2018.
“Doing more business with China does not necessarily mean toning down one’s rhetoric regarding political principles. Let’s remember that China values good economic relations with European states, just as European states value good economic relations with China,” he said.
The report follows research from the European Think-tank Network on China last year which found nations in Europe that had larger trade volumes with the country were “more active and vocal … in promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law in its relations with China”.
In the latest report, researchers analysed 57 statements on the Chinese embassy website made between January 2018 and May this year. They found “media tyranny”, “anti-China provocations” and “complete fabrication” were the most used terms in the criticisms of Swedish media and police.
Naturalised Swedish citizen Gui Minhai, the Hong Kong bookshop owner and publisher who has been detained in mainland China, was the most frequent subject – the embassy disputed media coverage of the case in 21 statements.
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Rebuttals of Swedish press coverage of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and articles touching on China’s territorial integrity on Taiwan and Tibet were also common.
The embassy started ramping up its criticism in the summer of 2018 and it peaked in September, when 11 statements were issued on the case of three Chinese tourists who were denied lodging at a hotel in the Swedish capital after arriving a day early.
Chinese ambassador Gui Congyou subsequently questioned the Swedish government’s commitment to human rights, and accused the police of inhumane treatment of the family.
Tensions escalated further when a satirical Swedish television show mocked the tourists, advising them not to defecate in the street or mistake dogs for lunch.
The attacks on Swedish media caused a stir among local journalists, who have issued open letters and statements denouncing the embassy’s targeting of them.
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“We haven’t changed our minds. You can say that nothing has changed. Our organisation as well as the Swedish journalists in general are still very critical to China,” said Grethe Rottboll, president of the Swedish Writers’ Union.
She added that the union was closely monitoring the situation of the Uygurs in Xinjiang and waiting for Beijing to release Gui Minhai.
On the expanding economic ties between China and Sweden, Rottboll urged caution.
“We hope that the Swedish companies will think once or twice before they sign business agreements,” she said. “We hope they will take their ethical responsibilities in their relations with the Chinese state.”
