Gui Congyou (; born 1965) is a Chinese diplomat who served as the
Chinese Ambassador to Sweden until his resignation in September 2021.
Biography
Gui was born in May 1965. From 1991 to 1994 he worked in the Policy Research Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. From 1994 to 1997 he worked at the Chinese Embassy in the Russian Federation. From 1997 to 2003 he worked in the MFA's Department of European-Central Asian Affairs. From 2003 to 2009 he again worked in the Chinese Embassy in Moscow. From 2009 to 2017 he returned to the Department of European-Central Asian Affairs.
Ambassadorship
Gui was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Kingdom of Sweden in 2017.
In November 2019 Gui threatened Sweden during an interview with broadcaster
Swedish PEN saying that “We treat our friends with fine wine, but for our enemies we got shotguns.” over the decision to award
Gui Minhai
Gui Minhai (, formerly ; born 5 May 1964), also known as Michael Gui, is a Chinese-born Swedish book publisher and writer. He is an author of many books related to Chinese politics and Chinese political figures; Gui authored around 200 books ...
with the
Tucholsky Prize
Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel.
Tucholsky was on ...
. All eight major Swedish political parties have condemned the Ambassador's threats. On December 4 after the prize had been awarded, Ambassador Gui said that one could not both harm China's interests and benefit economically from China. When asked to clarify his remarks he said that China would impose trade restrictions on Sweden, these remarks were backed up by the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing. The embassy has systematically worked to influence the reporting on China by Swedish journalists.
In April 2021 it was revealed that the Chinese embassy threatened a journalist working for the newspaper
Expressen
''Expressen'' (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden, the other being '' Aftonbladet''. ''Expressen'' was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or "''Expressen'' to your rescue".
...
. Several political parties publicly expressed that they believe the ambassador should be declared
persona non grata
In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution.
Diplomacy
Under Article 9 of the ...
and deported. The reason given was that the Chinese embassy, during his time as ambassador, consistently ignores the Swedish constitution by threatening and attempting to influence journalists to not be critical of China.
See also
*
China–Sweden relations
*
List of ambassadors of China to Sweden
*
Wolf warrior diplomacy
Wolf warrior diplomacy () is a style of coercive diplomacy adopted by Chinese diplomats during the Xi Jinping administration. The term was coined from the Chinese action film ''Wolf Warrior 2''. This approach is in contrast to the prior Chinese d ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gui, Congyou
1965 births
Living people
Ambassadors of China to Sweden
Diplomats of the People's Republic of China
21st-century Chinese politicians
Chinese Communist Party politicians