Swedish broadcaster: China sketch ‘misunderstood’

STOCKHOLM — Sweden’s public broadcaster said Tuesday it regretted that a satirical show it aired about China offended some — but stressed that it would not apologize to Beijing for the sketch.

Sveriges Television or SVT issued a statement about last week’s news sketch after Beijing complained that the show, which featured a “do’s and don’ts” guide for Chinese tourists in Sweden, “affronted China.”

The show referred to a recent complaint from Beijing about the way police removed a Chinese family from a Stockholm hotel and allegedly mistreated them. SVT said the satire also featured a map “where Taiwan did not appear to belong to China.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Monday the program “affronted China” and “amounts to a gross insult to and vicious attack on China and the Chinese people.”

The Swedish broadcaster said its sketch aimed to comment satirically and humorously, and to highlight “Sinophobia” in Sweden.

It said it made a mistake when it subsequently stream segments of the sketch to Chinese online video site YouKu. “The whole of our message was lost, and we can understand that it saddened individuals and that, we regret,” it said in a statement.

It added however that SVT will not apologize for the sketch itself.

“I assume that Chinese authorities are able to distinguish between satire expressions and news,” program director Jan Helin said.