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Why Sweden and China have fallen out so badly
islander:
Why Sweden and China have fallen out so badly
26 September 2018
Image copyright: SVT
Satirical programme Swedish News did a segment on Chinese tourists in last week's episode
It's a diplomatic spat no one saw coming, but tensions have over the past few weeks been escalating between China and Sweden.
It all started earlier in September when Chinese tourists were removed from a hotel by Swedish police, a move which was heavily condemned by the Chinese government.
But matters were made worse when a satirical Swedish television show joked about Chinese people eating dogs and defecating in public.
Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=89757.0
islander:
Beijing accused the show of using "vulgar language", adding that it was "full of discrimination, prejudice and provocation" against China.
The Swedish broadcaster, on the other hand, said it would be "apparent" to a Swedish speaker that the show was "comedy".
But how did both countries get here and could there be more to the feud than it seems?
Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=89757.0
islander:
How did this all this begin?
Earlier this month, a video emerged of Chinese tourists allegedly being thrown out of a hotel by police in Stockholm.
A Chinese man and his parents had allegedly arrived at the hotel at midnight - hours before they were due to check in. They asked to stay in the lobby but were refused, and eventually were forcibly removed by police.
In the video, the Chinese man is seen yelling in English "This is killing. This is killing", while falling over dramatically. His mother is seen wailing and crying in Chinese, saying "help", while police officers look on.
It was later posted on Chinese social media, where it has received millions of views and thousands of mixed comments. Some users criticised Swedish police for treating them so harshly, while others point out the the family was unnecessarily "dramatic".
Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=89757.0
islander:
Image copyright: BTV
Chinese national broadcasters, including Beijing TV, aired the footage
As the video spread, the Chinese embassy in Sweden demanded an apology from the government, saying that the police actions had "violated the basic human rights of the Chinese citizens".
However, a manager from the hotel told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that the family had booked their rooms on the wrong day, and when they were told that, "refused to leave".
Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=89757.0
islander:
Is that all?
No - things soon got worse. After a few weeks of silence, relations worsened when on 21 September when Svenska Nyheter, a satirical television show aired on national Swedish broadcaster SVT, took a stab at Chinese tourists in general.
The show aired the video footage of the tourists being carried out of the hotel - and also included a sketch, which was dubbed over in Mandarin and uploaded to the Chinese video sharing site Youku - about do's and don'ts for Chinese tourists.
In the sketch the host not defecating "outside historical heritage sites" and while eating. (strange, uncorrected sentence retained as bbc's original.- poster)
Image copyright: SVT
The Swedish TV show uploaded a video to Chinese site Youku about do's and don'ts for Chinese tourists
Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=89757.0
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