Attempts by the Chinese Consulate to Stop a Swedish Falun Gong Broadcast have been reported to the Police

On September the 18th 2003, there was a report on a Swedish TV Station regarding the Chinese consulate's attempt to stop a Swedish Falun Gong programme from being broadcast.

The weekly broadcast on a Gothenburg TV Station reveals the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution of practitioners in China. The Chinese consulate, which is accredited in Gothenburg, personally came to the TV Station to try and stop the programme from being broadcast. According to the chief of the local TV station, the Chinese consulate suggested that the programme would influence relations with projects in Shanghai and a project with the East Indies group.

The Chinese consulate attempted to force Gothenburg authorities to stop the Falun Gong Association’s programme being broadcast, during which they actually claimed that there is a dividing line between democracy and freedom of speech.

Hans Hirschi, the chief of the local TV station, was extremely annoyed about the pressure applied by the Chinese Consulate. He commented “We only need to go back to 1941 to find a similar case occurring. This makes me think of World War II, when Germany at that time attempted to control the Swedish media.”

Jonas Ransgård, a member of the Physical Education and the Association of Management Departments, said to a reporter that, “I took this opportunity to express my view point to the Chinese consulate regarding democracy and freedom of speech”.