At a daily press conference at China's foreign ministry in Beijing, journalists are given the opportunity to try to find out about China's official stance on various political issues.

At Monday's press conference, SVT's Asia correspondent Ulrika Bergsten asked questions about the statements made by Chinese Sweden Ambassador Gui Congyou, including in an SVT interview on Friday.

"Consequences"

He then spoke of "consequences for Sweden" if the government was present at the distribution of the Swedish PEN's Tucholsky Prize to the imprisoned Swedish-Chinese publisher Gui Minhai. The ambassador threatened to evict both Minister of Culture Amanda Lind (MP) and Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) from visits to China.

The Swedish Minister of Culture participated in the ceremony and Foreign Minister Ann Linde (S) clearly stated that freedom of expression applies in Sweden and that one does not give in to threats.

- We're not going to fall for that kind of threat. Never, commented Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S).

The Foreign Ministry agrees

At the official press conference in Beijing on Monday, the Foreign Ministry agrees with the criticism against Sweden:

- It was wrong of the Swedish minister to attend. Gui Minhai has been treated under Chinese law and has violated it. China demands respect for its sovereign legislation, spokesman Geng Shuang told SVT News correspondent Ulrika Bergsten.

"Serious mistake"

Following Friday night's ceremony, China's embassy in Sweden has published a statement on its website.

"The serious mistake from the Swedish side inevitably creates serious difficulties in maintaining normal friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and Sweden," the embassy writes.

Stressed relationships

Relations between Sweden and China are strained - not least because of the case of Gui Minhai.

SVT News finds that the Foreign Ministry has called China's ambassador Gui Congyou 40 times for talks. However, Gui Congyou claims that he has had more than 60 meetings only during 2018 with "colleagues at various levels at the Swedish Foreign Ministry".