China cancels trade visit to Sweden over detained bookseller Gui Minhai’s free speech prize
- Chinese ambassador threatened ‘bad consequences’ for Sweden after its culture minister presented award to Gui, represented by an empty chair
- He also told a Swedish newspaper last week that Beijing would ‘restrict cultural exchanges and cooperation on the economy and trade’
Sweden’s foreign ministry confirmed that the Chinese side postponed the trip in mid-November, according to a report by Swedish newspaper Göteborgs-Posten. It said Sweden’s foreign ministry was trying to reschedule the meetings.
China’s ambassador to Sweden Gui Congyou threatened “bad consequences” for the country after Minister for Culture and Democracy Amanda Lind presented the Tucholsky Prize to Gui – represented by an empty chair on stage – at a ceremony in Stockholm on November 15.
Gui Minhai is a Chinese-born Swedish citizen and co-owner of a Hong Kong bookstore that sold titles deemed politically sensitive by Beijing. He has been detained in China since early 2018 on suspicion of leaking state secrets after being intercepted on a Beijing-bound train while he was being escorted by two Swedish diplomats.
Last week, ambassador Gui Congyou told Göteborgs-Posten that China would “restrict cultural exchanges and cooperation on the economy and trade” with Sweden.
He also threatened consequences for the city of Gothenburg, where some politicians have proposed cancelling its sister-city relationship with Shanghai.
Clashes between Sweden and China over human rights and the ongoing case of Gui Minhai have strained relations between the two countries in the past two years.
Swedish prosecutors on Monday formally charged Lindstedt with “arbitrariness during negotiations with a foreign power”. Lindstedt reportedly arranged a meeting between Gui’s daughter, Angela Gui, and two men claiming to be Chinese businessmen in Stockholm, without informing the Swedish foreign ministry.
Björn Jerdén, head of the Asia programme at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, said China could still step back from imposing more sanctions on Sweden since Beijing had not openly repeated the ambassador’s threats.
“The Swedish government has no interest in escalation. At the same time, Sweden has been clear that it will continue to press for the release of Gui Minhai and stand up for the freedom of opinion in Sweden,” he said. “[But] as long as Beijing doesn’t accept these red lines there’s a risk of further friction.”
Gui Congyou has been a vocal critic of his host nation’s media coverage of China since he became the Chinese ambassador in Stockholm in August 2017. The Chinese embassy issued 57 statements critical of local press coverage of China between January 2018 and May this year, according to a report by the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.