Swedish publicists in protest against Chinese pressure

The text is published by the publishers association, which gathers Swedish publishers. It highlights, among other things, China's ambassador Gui Congyou's repeated attempts to undermine Swedish freedom of expression and expression, as well as the embassy's delayed visa processes and attempts to influence editorial content through pressure.

“It is unacceptable that the world's largest dictatorship is trying to prevent free and independent journalism in a democracy like Sweden. The repeated attacks must cease immediately, "the Publishers write.

- The Chinese embassy's many verbal attacks on Swedish journalists and opinion makers are completely unacceptable, says SVT Nyheter's responsible publisher Charlotta Friborg, who is one of the signatories.

- The attempts to control Swedish editors' news reporting on China will obviously not succeed. But there is a risk that this aggressiveness will cause refugees and Chinese in exile to hesitate in interviewing, which is extremely serious.

The publishers emphasize that not only Sweden is affected. For example, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten was called for an apology to the Chinese people for a satirical drawing published this week.

"The publishers believe that Sweden should now raise the issue of China's actions to the EU level, and together with the other democratic EU countries vigorously protest against all forms of attacks against freedom of the press," the publicists write, urging the government to act internationally.