The Swedes expelled a Chinese journalist. “A threat to state security”

On Monday, Swedish media reported the expulsion of a Chinese journalist from the country. The authorities cited national security in this regard – the woman was arrested in October, but now her appeal has been finally rejected. It was said to be a “threat to state security.”

Sweden expelled a Chinese journalist

The details of the expelled Chinese woman have not been made public, but it is known that the 57-year-old had been working in Sweden for 20 years. She published information provided by the Chinese embassy in Stockholm on her own website, organized Sino-Swedish events, and maintained extensive contacts with the Chinese government. The Swedish media talked to the woman’s lawyer, but he covered himself with secrecy and state security:

I cannot provide any details because they are shrouded in secrecy. This is a matter of state security, Leutrim Kadriu said in an interview with SVT, adding that his client did not pose a threat to anyone.

The woman was arrested in October last year and has been in custody since then. Ultimately, the court, at the request of the Immigration Office, decided that the journalist should be deported. Regardless of the fact that she married a Swede and has two children with him, she was forbidden to return.

Swedish media SVT reports that the woman has been acting to the detriment of Sweden for over 10 years. The woman’s lawyer denies these accusations, saying they were made after the Institute of Foreign Affairs and the National Center for Chinese Studies in Sweden published a report that included his client’s name. The document concerned the Chinese diaspora in Sweden and its connections with the Chinese Communist Party, but – according to the lawyer – the charges against his client, although very serious, are based on false and incomplete information. The woman has already run out of the appeal path provided for in this matter by Swedish law.

Tense diplomatic relations between Sweden and China

Sweden and China have a long-standing tradition of making the lives of each other’s citizens miserable on their own soil. China has convicted and expelled Swedes numerous times in recent years. The Swedes do exactly the same. There are also the usual diplomatic problems. Sweden uses many opportunities to express concern about Taiwan, Tibet and the Uyghurs persecuted in China. In response, the Chinese embassy in Sweden issues further statements in which it consistently claims that the approach taken by the Swedes is interference in their internal state affairs. The last confrontation of this type took place.