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What Chinese tourist row in Sweden says about the future of Europe-China relations

Björn Jerdén and Viking Bohman say the Chinese embassy’s forceful response to its citizens being evicted from a Swedish hotel by police indicates that more friction may be in the offing between the new global power and Europe

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A Chinese man cries out after his family is evicted from a Swedish hostel by police just after midnight on September 2. Photo: Handout
A seemingly harmless incident between Chinese tourists and local police in Stockholm has escalated into an unfolding diplomatic crisis. The Chinese embassy says that the police “brutally abused” and “severely endangered the life” of the visiting family and wants an apology. Swedish judicial authorities have dropped the case and, so far, no apologies have been offered.

China’s forceful reaction is surprising but not an isolated event. It follows on from an unprecedented propaganda offensive, which has developed since the new Chinese ambassador to Sweden, Gui Congyou, took up his post last year.

Gui, an experienced Russia hand, appears to have taken as his mission to improve, or “correct”, the debate about China in Sweden. Since spring, statements have piled up on the embassy’s website condemning Swedish opinions as “biased”, “groundless” and “totally unacceptable”.
Swedish commentaries on everything from the Belt and Road Initiative to the treatment of Tibetans to the imprisonment of the Swedish citizen Gui Minhai have been portrayed as the product of a misunderstanding of facts or “hidden agenda”.

Watch: Chinese tourists claim mistreatment by Swedish police

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