Chinese embassy rejects second Swedish apology for satire on tourists
Programme manager’s blog offering ‘sincere apology’ and saying video was intended to be anti-racist ‘lacks sincerity and is perfunctory’, claims embassy
China’s embassy in Stockholm has rejected a second apology for a Swedish television programme’s portrayal of Chinese tourists, calling it an “insincere” response as it continued its attacks on the European country over three Chinese people being ejected from a hostel four weeks ago.
The apology appeared in a blog post on Wednesday by a programme manager for Sweden’s national broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT). The post addressed imagery aired on Friday in a satirical video listing dos and don’ts for Chinese tourists, which the Chinese embassy described as racist.
But the embassy said on Thursday the statement from programme manager Thomas Hall was “insincere and hypocritical”.
The Swedish Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Monday that there was freedom of expression in Sweden and that it had no further comment.
Hall’s satirical programme, Svenska Nyheter, had lampooned the case of a man, Zeng, and his parents, who were removed from the Generator Stockholm hostel on September 2 after arriving a day early for their reservation.
They were told they could not wait in the lobby and, having refused to leave, had to be carried from the hostel by Swedish police. Footage of Zeng screaming at police officers outside the hostel was posted online, and was followed by a series of fiery statements from Gui Congyou, the Chinese ambassador to Sweden.
In a media offensive in the days that followed, Gui claimed the tourists had been maltreated, accused Sweden of violating diplomatic protocol and arrogance, and warned Chinese people against visiting the country.
