,
10 tweets,
4 min read
Read on Twitter
THREAD: Yesterday, what is now called Sweden's biggest foreign policy scandal in decades, was exposed as @angelagui_ revealed how Anna Lindstedt, the Swedish ambassador to China, lured her to Stockholm for a meeting with shady and threatening "businessmen" who represented China.
At this meeting, the men threatened Angela to stop talking to media, or she would never see her father Gui Minhai again. Ambassador Lindstedt sat next to Angela at the time, pushing her to accept "the plan" that the men proposed. Details of meeting here: medium.com/@angela_62804/…
Lindstedt also said that if the men's "plan" succeeded, she would go on TV to talk about the "bright future of Sweden-China relations". She would also express regret for two incidents last year that China has demanded an apology for; a row with Chinese tourists and a satire show.
The men were acting aggressively and Angela rejected the "plan". After the meeting she called @SweMFA. It turns out the Swedish MFA had no clue that this meeting was talking place - the ministry was not even aware that ambassador Lindstedt had left Beijing for Stockholm!
Lindstedt was meant to leave Beijing in March this year for another lucrative position within the @SweMFA. After the meeting was revealed she was called back to Stockholm last month, and is now under investigation by the MFA: expressen.se/nyheter/ud-utr…
On Swedish TV @jsjostedt, leader for the Left Party, scolded Lindstedt for having acted as a running dog for a dictatorship by trying to silent the daughter of a kidnapped Swedish citizen. He calls it Sweden's biggest foreign policy scandal "in decades": svt.se/nyheter/utrike…
The whole affair is of course another result of Chinese manipulation and pressure on foreign ambassadors and other diplomatic staff, businessmen and academics. Something similar also happened with the Canadian ambassador to China who was recently fired: theglobeandmail.com/politics/artic…
Naturally, ultimate responsibility for the scandal lies with @SweMFA and FM @margotwallstrom. In the current climate, only the most experienced diplomats should be appointed ambassador to China, and their work should be checked on regularly. This was not the case with Lindstedt.
A tweet from happier times, when Lindstedt was appointed ambassador to China in April 2016. Born in 1960, she has earlier been ambassador to Mexico and Vietnam. Before assuming her post in Beijing, she was Sweden’s “ambassador of climate”, leading climate negotiations in Paris. 
Correction: apparently Lindstedt was not called to Stockholm last month, but only this week, as @SweMFA got informed about the secret meeting. She is still under investigation, and a new acting ambassador have been appointed to Beijing for the time being.
