Hua Ding in Malmö is Sweden’s largest Chinese cultural association, with 800 members.
The chairman, Wang Jun, is a retired chief physician who has lived in Sweden since 1987, and during these years she has seen how the attitude towards China has shifted.
– About ten years ago, the relationship between China and Sweden was really great. When people heard you were from China, you got a lot of curious questions. Nowadays, it’s almost like an invisible sense of distance, Wang Jun said.
“Caught between two sets of values”
In 2017, China introduced a new law that states that all Chinese citizens, regardless of where they live in the world, are required to provide information to the Communist Party if requested.
It has meant that scores of completely innocent Chinese are suddenly associated with a political game they are not a part of. The hardening rhetoric about Taiwan also affects the mood here in Sweden.
– I think for all of us who live here, thinking people, intellectuals, it’s boring for us. We came here to Sweden and know that Sweden stands for solidarity and equality. But it almost feels like you are being squeezed between two sets of values, says one of the cultural association’s members, Renée Zhang.
