How Sweden copes with Chinese bullying
“For our enemies, we have shotguns,” warns Beijing’s ambassador
TRADITIONALLY, CHINESE ambassadors are restrained, colourless figures who emerge from the wallpaper only to object ritually that any criticism of their government is an insult to Chinese people. Gui Congyou, China’s ambassador to Sweden, has taken a different tack. He and his embassy denounce journalists and public figures for perceived slights on an almost weekly basis, a pace so unusual it has been studied by Swedish political scientists. He has been summoned to Sweden’s foreign ministry more than 40 times in two years.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Shotgun diplomacy”
Europe February 22nd 2020
- Emmanuel Macron’s reforms are working, but not for him
- A sexting scandal makes France fret it is turning Puritan
- How Sweden copes with Chinese bullying
- The $50bn Yukos judgment against Russia turns on a single word
- An Orthodox Christian schism in Ukraine echoes around the world
- Turkey acquits the Gezi Park protesters, then rearrests one
- Poland is cocking up migration in a very European way
From the February 22nd 2020 edition
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