September 27, 2018
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has released statements protesting a recent Swedish TV show that insulted China.
China alleges that the Swedish channel SVT used very vulgar language against China and the Chinese people, which has incited discrimination, bias and provocation against China and other ethnic groups, and is a clear breach of journalistic ethics, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.
The program aired on Friday and cast China in a negative light following a recent incident regarding Swedish police mistreatment of Chinese tourists.
Program anchor Jesper Ronndahl made comments that amount to a gross insult to and a vicious attack on China and the Chinese people, Geng said, adding that China strongly condemned the malicious act and the ministry and Chinese embassy in Sweden have lodged a strong protest to the Swedish side.
The Chinese embassy in Stockholm said on Saturday that the SVT program and Ronndahl spread and advocated racism and xenophobia, and openly provoked and instigated racial hatred and confrontation targeting China and some other ethnic groups.
The program also used an inaccurate map in which China’s Taiwan and some parts of the Tibet autonomous region were missing, which severely infringes on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the embassy added.
The program breaks the basic moral principles of mankind and gravely challenges human conscience, the embassy said.
Also, a warning was issued on Sunday by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism notifying travellers to carefully choose destinations in Sweden, and Chinese tourists have been increasingly concerned about travellingm to the Scandinavian country.
The ministry warned that security incidents frequently occurred in Sweden and China’s embassy in Stockholm has received reports of robbery, property theft and other crimes reported by Chinese travellers since April.
However, none of these cases were solved by local police, according to the ministry.
Liu Simin, a researcher at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said travellers are encouraged to inquire about local conditions before setting off on trips.