Detained bookseller Gui Minhai and extradition cases await new Swedish ambassador to China
- Career diplomat Helena Sangeland arrives in Beijing as new trade and human rights strategy takes shape in Stockholm
A controversial case that led to her predecessor’s dismissal and an extradition request over an alleged multimillion-dollar embezzler are two of the thorny issues that await Sweden’s new ambassador to China, Helena Sangeland.
Sangeland presented her credentials to President Xi Jinping on May 28, according to the Swedish foreign ministry. Before Beijing, she served as ambassador to Iran and Malaysia, and was formerly head of the Asia and Oceania department at the foreign ministry.
Sangeland’s predecessor, former ambassador Anna Lindstedt, was recalled by the foreign ministry in February after allegations she had arranged meetings between the daughter of naturalised Swedish citizen Gui Minhai and individuals claiming to be Chinese businessmen who said they could help in Gui’s case.
Gui, one of five co-publishers of salacious books about the lives of leading figures in the Chinese Communist Party, vanished in October 2015 while on holiday in Thailand.
He reappeared in the custody of Chinese authorities in Ningbo, eastern Zhejiang province, telling viewers on state-run CCTV in January 2016 that he was responsible for a drink-driving death in 2003.
Gui was released in October 2017. In February 2018, Beijing confirmed that Gui was detained on a Beijing-bound train – an incident that occurred in view of two Swedish diplomats. This time, Beijing said, he was being held over allegations he had leaked state secrets.
The Swedish foreign ministry said Lindstedt’s intercession in the Gui case took place without its knowledge, and the case had been referred to prosecutors.
Former Swedish ambassador to China faces criminal investigation over secret Gui Minhai meetings
On Monday, Sweden’s Supreme Court confirmed to the South China Morning Post that Qiao Jianjun, the former director of a government grain storage facility in Zhoukou who fled China in November 2011, would face an extradition hearing on June 18 to face trial for embezzlement in China.
Prosecutors in Henan province accuse Qiao of funnelling large sums of money out of the country through underground banks.
“The Supreme Court’s task is to express an opinion to the Swedish government on the question whether there are obstacles according to the Swedish extradition act to the person being extradited to China,” a court spokesman said, adding that if no obstacles existed, “extradition will be decided by the Swedish government”.
Sangeland’s appointment comes after the Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallstrom said Sweden was working on a new China strategy to balance trade with human rights concerns.
“China’s stronger international position brings both opportunities and challenges,” Wallstrom told the Riksdag, Sweden’s parliament, in February.
“Trade with China creates both jobs and growth in Sweden,” she said, warning that democracy and human rights in China were “very serious” matters for the government in Stockholm.
The two countries will celebrate their 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year.
‘Naive’ Sweden is updating its 16-year-old China strategy
Bjorn Jerden, head of the Asia programme at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs – who described Sangeland as “an experienced diplomat” – said: “At any point in time, Beijing is one of the most important postings in the Swedish foreign ministry.
“If Gui is still in custody it will cast a shadow over the celebrations.”
