Chinese government retaliates over Swedish literary award to detained publisher Gui Minhai
Chinese-born Swedish publisher Gui Minhai, who has been repeatedly detained since 2015, was honored with an award from a Swedish literary group, Svenska PEN. Chinese government officials, however, criticized the ceremony and warned Sweden’s government not to have anyone attend. After Sweden’s Culture Minister presented the award, China’s ambassador said his government would take “counter measures,” without immediately specifying the actions. He notably said during a media interview that “we treat our friends with fine wine, but we have shotguns for our enemies.” Subsequently, the ambassador mentioned restricting cultural, trade, and economic exchanges, and at least two China-Sweden business delegations were canceled. There was also talk of Swedish officials being banned from entering China in the future.

About This Incident

Threat Actors: China

Incident Metadata

Date: November 15, 2019
Country: Sweden