Anna Kerstin Erica Lindstedt (born 6 April 1960 ) was the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Ambassador to Beijing from 2016 to early 2019.

Education and career

Lindstedt grew up in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

, where she studied at the Lund University. Concurrent with her post in China, Lindstedt served as Ambassador of Sweden to Mongolia. She also served as Ambassador of Sweden to Mexico (2006–2011) and Vietnam (2003–2006). Prior to joining the Foreign Service, she worked as a journalist and teacher.

Backdoor diplomacy controversy

In February 2019, Gui Minhai's daughter Angela made a blog post documenting a "very strange experience" involving Lindstedt. In it, she alleged that Lindstedt contacted her in mid-January and invited her to a meeting in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

that she had set up with some Chinese businessmen who she thought could help secure her father's release. Angela recounted in her blog that the meetings were held at a private lounge in a Stockholm hotel, where she was sequestered for days, and was even escorted to and from the bathroom. The men, who claimed to have "connections within the Chinese Communist Party", apparently used a mixture of inducements, manipulation and threats on her. She was told that her father's release would be contingent on her stopping her campaign and avoiding media engagement. They offered her a Chinese visa as well as a job in the Chinese embassy. To Angela, Ambassador Lindstedt's presence and seemingly supportive stance suggested the talks were initiated by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. She nevertheless felt uncomfortable with the meetings. When she later made inquiries of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, it said it was unaware of the events. The Chinese Embassy in Stockholm denied any involvement; the Swedish Ministry said it was not aware of the events until after the meetings had taken place. It confirmed to the press that the ambassador had been recalled, and that an internal investigation into the incident was under way. Prosecutors investigated her “for breaching the country's national security by ‘arbitrary conduct when negotiating with a foreign power.‘“ On 9 December, Lindstedt was charged by Swedish prosecutors for "arbitrariness during negotiations with a foreign power", an unprecedented charge in modern Sweden, with a possible maximum prison sentence of 2 years. Later on, her trial in Stockholm District Court started in June 2020. On 10 July the lower court ruled that the prosecutors could not prove Anna Lindstedt had exceeded her authority and acquitted her of the charges against her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindstedt, Anna 1960 births Living people People from Lund Lund University alumni Ambassadors of Sweden to Mexico Ambassadors of Sweden to Vietnam Ambassadors of Sweden to China Ambassadors of Sweden to Mongolia Swedish women journalists Swedish schoolteachers Swedish women ambassadors 20th-century Swedish women