Advertisement
HK bookseller disappearances
ChinaDiplomacy

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’

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Swedish Minister for Culture and Democracy Amanda Lind presents the Tucholsky Prize to detained bookseller Gui Minhai in Stockholm on November 15. Photo: Reuters
Keegan Elmerin BeijingandWendy Wuin Beijing
China has cancelled a trade visit to Stockholm as its threatened “bad consequences” start to emerge over a free speech literary prize awarded to detained bookseller Gui Minhai last month.
Advertisement
Gui’s case has deepened an ongoing crisis in bilateral relations between Sweden and China. On Monday, Sweden’s former ambassador to China Anna Lindstedt was indicted over a meeting arranged for the bookseller’s daughter to discuss his possible release and Lindstedt now faces trial in Stockholm.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that a trip to the country by a Chinese trade delegation scheduled for Tuesday was called off. Diplomatic sources confirmed to the South China Morning Post that it was cancelled because the Swedish culture minister presented the free speech award, given by Sweden’s PEN International, to 55-year-old Gui, who is currently in detention in China.

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.

Advertisement
Gui Minhai has been detained in China since early 2018 on suspicion of leaking state secrets. Photo: Simon Song
Gui Minhai has been detained in China since early 2018 on suspicion of leaking state secrets. Photo: Simon Song

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.

Advertisement