Swedish regions and counties discontinue several partnerships with China

Photo: CSBC

The Swedish region of Dalarna along with the counties of Linköping, Västerås, Åmåls and Borlänge has discontinued their cultural- and political partnerships with Chinese counties and regions as of 19 February 2020, reports the Swedish daily Dagens Samhälle.

The decision is based on the criticism and threats the Chinese ambassador in Sweden has pointed at Swedish journalists and politicians.

The county of Borlänge in the region of Dalarna has ended their cultural partnership with the city of Wuhan, where the youth of Dalarna had the opportunity to learn Chinese at an institute in China. Even the partnership between ‘youth democracies’ in the province of Hubei and the entire region of Dalarna has ended.

“We have ended all political ties with China. This is due to the threats the Chinese embassy in Sweden has directed towards the Swedish government,” says the Council Chairman in Linköping Lars Vikinge to the Swedish newspaper.

The harsh words from the Chinese embassy in Sweden began when the Swedish division of PEN, an organization for writers and poets, awarded the Tucholsky-award to the Swedish writer- and known critic of the Chinese regime, Gui Minhai in the fall of 2019.

Source: Expressen

About Sofia Flittner

Journalist • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand

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2 Comments on “Swedish regions and counties discontinue several partnerships with China”

  1. This is incorrect: the Chinese embassy’s bullying of people in Sweden actually started long before – starting at least in 2018.
    For example, the ambassador issued direct threats to Sweden in an interview in Swedish Radio (Konflikt) on 09 june 2018.
    On the Chinese embassy’s bullying campaign see also the special report from the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI), _China’s propaganda campaign in Sweden, 2018–2019_ (UI Brief no. 4, June 2019): https://www.ui.se/butiken/uis-publikationer/ui-brief/2019/chinas-propaganda-campaign-in-sweden-20182019/

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