Founder of a Chinese propaganda website. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic is considering expelling a Chinese diplomat for following Taiwan's vice president-elect, Hsiao Bi-khim, during her visit to Prague in March.
Milan (/Agencies) – Swedish authorities have ordered the expulsion of a Chinese journalist and a permanent ban on her return for reasons of national security. The journalist was detained by the Swedish security services in October last year and expelled from Swedish territory last week.
The Swedish national channel SVT did not make the journalist's name public, but revealed some information. The journalist is a 57-year-old woman who arrived in Sweden about 20 years ago. She was married to a Swede by whom she had children. According to the report, the woman has close ties to the Chinese embassy in Stockholm and some people related to the Chinese government. The journalist has also worked in other Nordic countries, such as Denmark and Finland.
According to the Swedish news website Kinamedia, which covers issues related to China, the expelled journalist is Xuefei Chen Axelsson (陈雪霏), founder of the Chinese pro-government website Green Post. The Swedish Security Service apparently discovered that her website was paid by Beijing's embassy in Stockholm to publish pro-government Chinese articles. The Green Post website contains propaganda articles, such as a photo exhibition on Xinjiang in Stockholm. According to the site's presentation, Chen herself, as editor-in-chief, has worked in previous years for official Chinese media, such as China Radio International and the Xinhua News Agency.
The website of the Chinese embassy in Stockholm also did not name the journalist, but urged Swedish authorities to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens are not violated. “We oppose causing trouble by spreading rumors,” the note reads, “we oppose ideologization, we oppose unfounded accusations and slander against China.” Lawyer Leutrim Kadriu, defending the woman, insisted that he would not harm Sweden's national security, but his appeal was rejected.
Tensions between Sweden and China have been going on for several years. In late 2015, Swedish citizen and editor Gui Minhai disappeared while on vacation in Thailand. Several employees of his Hong Kong publishing house, famous for selling books on Chinese politics, also vanished. It is believed that Chinese security agents kidnapped them to bring them back to China. Additionally, in 2018, Tibetan Dorjee Gyantsan was sentenced to 22 months in prison for spying on the Tibetan community in Sweden on behalf of Chinese authorities.
All this occurs while fear of an aggressive Chinese presence in Europe grows. According to reports from the Czech Republic, Taiwan's vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim was followed by a Chinese diplomat throughout her visit to Prague in March. At one point, the suspect car ran a red light and almost caused an accident. The police stopped him and discovered that the driver belonged to the military section of the embassy of the People's Republic of China in Prague. The Czech government is considering placing the Chinese military diplomat on the list of persona non grata, which would mean his permanent expulsion.
