Do Swedish Human Rights concerns extend to welfare of Chinese tourists?

Note: The following is an edited translation of a commentary from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs."

On September 15th, China’s Embassy in Sweden issued a statement, strongly condemning the actions of Swedish police officers who, they say, brutally mistreated Chinese tourists at the beginning of this month. The statement stressed that the police officers’ actions severely endangered the lives and violated the basic human rights of the Chinese citizens involved and called on the Swedish government to conduct a thorough and immediate investigation and to respond to the Chinese citizens’ request for redress, an apology and compensation.

Chinese tourists visit Stockholm, Sweden, August, 31, 2014. [File photo: VCG]

According to information from China’s Embassy in Sweden and associated media reports, the incident happened in the early hours of September 2nd, when Mr. Zeng from China and his parents arrived at a hotel in Stockholm. As the room they had booked was not yet available for them to check into until later that day, and in the light of the health of his parents, both in their sixties, Zeng asked the hotel staff whether they could pay a fee so that his parents could temporarily rest on the chairs in the lobby for the night. However, the hotel staff refused and called the police in the midst of an argument. After the police arrived, Zeng says they brutally dragged his parents out of the hotel and took them to a police car, eventually ejecting them near a graveyard dozens of miles away from downtown Stockholm. Fortunately, some passers-by helped them get back to the city center where Zeng contacted China’s Embassy at once. The Embassy, as well as China’s Foreign Ministry, lodged strong representation in Stockholm and in Beijing respectively to the Swedish government. So far, however, there has been no response from the Swedish side, and the Swedish media is remaining tight lipped over the incident.

Why should they remain silent? Do they have something to hide? Clearly, the incident itself still requires further investigation, especially in the light of video shot at the scene clearly showing the actions of the Swedish police officers involved. There are two indisputable points.

First of all, according to images shot at the scene, two Swedish police officers dragged Zeng’s father, who is 67 years old and suffers from cardiovascular disease, along the ground. Such action is brutal, and unacceptable for anyone with a conscience. Sweden is well known for attaching great importance to protecting human rights. In May 2017, it issued a human rights report, making remarks on the human rights situation in many countries including China, setting itself up as an arbiter of human rights. Swedish police, as an important part of the country’s state apparatus, should represent how Sweden is civilized and developed when conducting law enforcement. However, the way the local police in downtown Stockholm conducted themselves during the incident in a city hotel and on the streets on September 2nd has inevitably raised questions over Sweden’s ability to protect human rights and conduct law enforcement in a civilized manner. Could it be that it has double standards in relation to the protection of human rights? Whereby it only protects the civil rights of its own people, and is happy to randomly abuse the human rights of civilians from other countries?

Two weeks have now passed since the incident. The Chinese embassy and the Chinese Foreign Ministry have both lodged solemn representation with the Swedish government, but have yet to receive any response from the Swedish side. So what could lie behind this wall of silence? Arrogance and insolence from police and government officials? Or is it because the Swedish side realized they had indeed done something wrong and couldn't bring themselves to own up to it?

Recently, there has been a deterioration in the security situation in Sweden. A series of violent incidents have occurred in the country, including several cases of arson. The Chinese embassy has issued several alerts to Chinese citizens in the past two months, telling them to be on their guard for potential hazards and to stay away from crime-prone areas in that country. The brutal way in which the Chinese citizens were treated on this occasion could raise concerns about the human rights situation in Sweden. Is this incident an isolated case of brutal law enforcement, or is it a reflection of the lack of human rights protection? Or even perhaps the manifestation of racial discrimination? It is clearly high time the Swedish authorities offered a comprehensive, just and convincing explanation.