On the 11th local time, in the face of the Swedish opposition party's request to "expel Chinese Ambassador Gui Congyou", Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde told the Swedish Express that Sweden will not expel the Chinese ambassador, causing a backlash from the two opposition parties (the Swedish Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Party).
Linde said Sweden would not use the expulsion of the ambassador to make political statements. She said that Sweden hopes to maintain the channels of dialogue, and the more channels of communication, the smoother the flow, so that China and Switzerland can continue to have dialogue.
However, Linde claimed that the Chinese embassy "threatened journalists" and that the Swedish Foreign Ministry would continue to criticize Chinese ambassador Gui Congyou, demanding that he respect Swedish law and freedom of expression.
Gui Congyou infographic. Source: Chinese Embassy in Sweden
On the 11th, the Chinese Embassy responded to the expulsion for the first time: Recently, some politicians of the Swedish Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Party made erroneous comments on China and Sino-Swiss relations, which we condemn and firmly oppose.
"In the eyes of these few politicians, the so-called freedom of speech means that only they have the freedom to arbitrarily publish lies on China-related issues, and there is no freedom for us to correct their lies; that is, only their freedom to smear and attack the Chinese party and government, and the freedom for us to state the facts and the truth." The statement pointed out that where is the freedom of the press, it is clearly their "tyranny of speech"!
The Chinese Embassy said that China is a country of etiquette, advocating mutual respect, and only by respecting others can we gain the respect of others. When you give flowers to others, you are the first to smell the flowers; when you smash the mud against others, you are the first to get dirty.
Screenshot of the website of the Chinese Embassy in Sweden
The Chinese Embassy said that we are open to dialogue, exchange and communication with any Swiss people who hold different views and views. The sino-Swiss consensus and cooperation far outweigh the differences. It is hoped that a small number of politicians on the Swedish side will move in the same direction as us, proceed from the friendly aspirations and fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples, focus on cooperation, seek common ground while reserving differences, and jointly promote the healthy and stable development of Sino-Swiss friendly and cooperative relations.
Ambassador Gui Congyou, Chinese ambassador to Sweden, arrived in 2017. In an interview with Swedish television (SVT) in January 2020, Gui Congyou criticized some Swedish media for groundless accusations of attacking China and inciting confrontation. They don't want to understand reality, but they sit in their offices all day thinking about how to smear China.
The South China Morning Post pointed out that after this interview, the Swedish government announced that it had summoned Ambassador Gui. Even more ironically, the Swedish foreign minister declared that Ambassador Gui's remarks posed an "unacceptable threat" to Sweden's "freedom of speech."
On March 23, 2021, Ambassador Gui Congyou met with State Secretary Of State Fordberg at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and made solemn representations to the Swedish government on EU sanctions against China.
Ambassador Gui solemnly pointed out that Xinjiang-related issues are not ethnic, religious, and human rights issues, but issues of counter-terrorism, de-radicalization, and anti-separatism. As the old Chinese saying goes, planting melons gets melons, and planting beans gets beans. The EU has imposed unjustifiable sanctions on relevant Chinese personnel and entities based on the lies and false facts of a very small number of personnel, and China has to counteract relevant personnel and entities of the European side, including the Swiss side.
Ambassador Gui urged the Swedish and European sides to recognize the seriousness of their mistakes and immediately correct them, and not to use human rights as an excuse and to call themselves "human rights teachers" to grossly interfere in China's internal affairs. The Chinese government's determination to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests is unswerving.