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Tonight is the night Sweden’s Minister for Culture and Democracy, Amanda Lind, can be declared persona non grata and unwelcome in China. If the Swedish PEN prize is awarded to the jailed Swedish-Chinese publisher Gui Minhai, wrote the Chinese embassy on their website, there will be “consequences” (DN.se/Gui).
The Chinese embassy characterizes Gui Minhai as a “liar and a rumor-monger” DN reports. In an interview on Sweden’s Radio, the Chinese ambassador said that what Gui Minhai writes is based on lies, and that “Swedes, with a good conscience, cannot hurt the Chinese people’s feelings and damage Chinese interests.”
In response to the Chinese declaration, Prime Minister Löfven stated that the Minister for Culture and Democracy Lind will award the prize on Friday evening regardless of Chinese opinion. “She has been asked to give out the prize and she has said yes and it’s obvious we’re going keep that committment. In Sweden, we have freedom of expression – and that is what matters, period.”
China responded in turn that Amanda Lind will no longer be welcome in China if she gives out the Tucholsky Prize, which is specifically awarded to persecuted authors and publishers.
Gui Minhai left China for Sweden in 1988 to study. He became a Swedish citizen in 1992 and got his doctorate 4 years later. In 2012, he started a publishing company in Hongkong which gave out, among others, books on the Communist Party – which are forbidden on the Chinese mainland. About four years ago Gui Minhai disappeared during a visit to Thailand. It became clear afterwards that he had been picked up and detained by Chinese security. He is charged with a traffic violation that supposedly happened in 2003 (SvDse/GuiMinhai).
The question is not whether or not Lind attends the PEN event, but if she actually presents the prize herself. Lind says that it was obvious that she, as Minister for Culture and Democracy, would be there for the award ceremony – självklart att vara med på utdelningen (Svd.se/Lind), which isn’t the same as giving out the award. According to DN, the Chinese statement was that she would be denied entry to China if she participated in the prize ceremony – om hon deltar i prisceremonien. It remains unclear what will satisfy both the Chinese and the Swedish demands.