China's treatment of Swedish citizens encounters severe criticism from the Swedish Government and Ministry of Foreign affairs

Chinas treatment towards Swedes on Tiananmen Square recently, encountered severe criticism. On Thursday the 22nd of November, the Chargé d’affairs of China in Stockholm, Cui Jianchao, was called to the Ministry of Foreign affairs to receive the Swedish Governments severe criticism regarding the treatment of the nine Swedish Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing.

The Swedish Government is deeply concerned that Swedish citizens have been physically abused in Beijing when they were participating in an ”illegal” demonstration.

Furthermore the Chinese Government received criticism because despite that Swedish diplomats repeatedly tried to get in contact with the detainded swedes, they were not allowed to meet them for 18 hours. A deputy for the swedish embassy in Beijing was not able to meet the Swedes until they were taken on board the airplane that was going to bring them back to Sweden. The Swedish Government sees this as a crime to the Wienconvention.

The head of the department of the Ministry of Foreign affairs, Sven-Olof Persson, described the treatment of the Falun Gong movement as cruel and a crime against human rights.