Detained bookseller Gui Minhai and extradition cases await new Swedish ambassador to China

Career diplomat Helena Sangeland arrives in Beijing as new trade and human rights strategy takes shape in Stockholm

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Helena Sangeland, newly appointed Swedish ambassador to China, will have to address a controversy that led to the recall of her predecessor in February. Photo: Sweden Government Offices

Published: 10:00pm, 10 Jun 2019Updated: 2:00am, 11 Jun 2019

A controversial case that led to her predecessor’s dismissal and an extradition request over an alleged multimillion-dollar embezzler are two of the thorny issues that await Sweden’s new ambassador to China, Helena Sangeland.

Sangeland presented her credentials to President Xi Jinping on May 28, according to the Swedish foreign ministry. Before Beijing, she served as ambassador to Iran and Malaysia, and was formerly head of the Asia and Oceania department at the foreign ministry.

Sangeland’s predecessor, former ambassador Anna Lindstedt, was recalled by the foreign ministry in February after allegations she had arranged meetings between the daughter of naturalised Swedish citizen Gui Minhai and individuals claiming to be Chinese businessmen who said they could help in Gui’s case.

Gui, one of five co-publishers of salacious books about the lives of leading figures in the Chinese Communist Party, vanished in October 2015 while on holiday in Thailand.

Anna Lindstedt was recalled by the Swedish government after allegations she had intervened in the Gui Minhai case. Photo: Embassy of Sweden

He reappeared in the custody of Chinese authorities in Ningbo, eastern Zhejiang province, telling viewers on state-run CCTV in January 2016 that he was responsible for a drink-driving death in 2003.