BJÖRN JERDÉN: Sino-Swedish Relations - Standing Up for Values While Managing Interests

OUR TOPIC

In today’s episode, we take a look at relations between Sweden and China, which say a lot about the challenge of balancing values and interests in China policy. We discuss a number of topics, such as the detainment of the Swedish citizen Gui Minhai, Sweden’s 2019 China strategy, and the costs of political fallout with China. All of this in order to draw lessons for the EU and other member states of the block on how to handle systemic rivalry with China.

OUR GUEST

Björn Jerdén is the Head of Asia Program at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, where he focuses his research on China and frequently comments on Sino-Swedish relations. He has been a visiting fellow at National Chengchi University, National Taiwan University, and Harvard University. We recommend that you read his recent publications: “Sweden: Not quite friends in need with China amid the COVID-19 crisis” and “China’s propaganda campaign in Sweden, 2018–2019”, links to which you can find below.