Calls for China’s ambassador to be thrown out of Sweden amid diplomatic storm
- Gui Congyou lashed out at local media in an interview on the weekend, saying they ‘have a habit of criticising, accusing and smearing China’
- He has been summoned for a meeting at the foreign ministry on Tuesday, and three Swedish parties have called for him to be expelled
Sweden’s government has demanded a meeting with the ambassador for China after he lambasted Swedish media.
He went on to compare the relationship between Swedish media and China to one in which “a 48kg weight boxer keeps challenging an 86kg weight boxer to a fight”.
Three parties in Sweden’s parliament have now called for Gui to be thrown out of the Nordic country, adding to tensions ahead of a meeting scheduled to take place with the ambassador at the foreign ministry in Stockholm on Tuesday.
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde has already ruled out the option of expelling Gui. But she also made clear Sweden would not accept veiled threats from China.
Relations between the two countries have soured recently over jailed Chinese-born Swedish publisher Gui Minhai, who was honoured last year by the Swedish chapter of PEN International with its annual Tucholsky Prize.
