The tourist’s father is forcibly removed by the police.A row has broken out between China and Sweden over what China says is the bad treatment of mainland tourists in Sweden. A man and his parents had tried to check into Generator Stockholm hostel just after midnight on September 2.
The family had asked if they could remain in the lobby until their room became available. The hostel said there was no place for them to sit down and asked them to leave. The family refused and police were called in to remove them. At one point, the father was carried out of the door by his arms and legs.
Talking points: Do mainland tourists behave differently than visitors from other parts of the world?
“We only know that we have done everything we could do for this guest, but at the same time, we cannot accept that our staff are exposed to threats and that other guests will suffer from a threatening situation,” the hostel manager was quoted as saying by the Swedish daily Aftonbladet. Neither the hostel nor Swedish police immediately responded to a request for comment on Monday.
In a video widely shared online and viewed more than a million times, the family is seen on the pavement, the son yelling “This is killing!” and then appearing to brush past an officer and flinging himself on the ground, while his mother wails loudly, calling for help.
After reviewing the footage, the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm wrote in a statement that the incident “severely endangered the life and violated the basic human rights of the Chinese citizens”. Beijing subsequently issued a safety alert for Chinese visitors to Sweden.