Netizens mock Swedish Customs, say it deserves Nobel Prize for tests

Swedish Customs’ accusation and embargo of Chinese medicine Lianhua Qingwen as ineffective just by testing capsule components showed the European country’s bias toward Chinese herbal remedy, Chinese experts said on Friday, noting that the baseless prejudice will also impede its ability in handling the COVID-19 in the future.

The comments came after

Swedish Customs reportedly held a batch of Lianhua Qingwen capsules, and after testing the capsules, only found menthol. “It does not work,” local media reported.

Menthol is just one of the 13 components of the medicine, Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co, the company that produced the capsule, told the Global Times in a statement on Friday, adding that the capsules are not registered in Sweden nor authorized for export in the country.

“The Swedish Customs’ conduct is biased and unreasonable. The effect of Lianhua Qingwen cannot be determined by merely checking its components. So how can they arbitrarily restrict its entry?” Yang Zhanqiu, deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, told the Global Times on Friday.

Customs checks the legality of imported products, and the Swedish Customs restrictions on Lianhua Qingwen lack evidence – the effect of medicine, Yang said.

The reported move has also sparked discussions on Chinese social media.

“The restrictions reflect Sweden’s discrimination against Chinese people living in the European country. Apart from Chinese in Sweden, who else will take the medicine? Has the Swedish government proven that Lianhua Qingwen is ineffective?” a netizen named Bolin said on China’s twitter-like Weibo platform on Friday.

“How can Swedish Customs just deny the medical effects by just gauging its ingredients? If medical science works like this, Swedish Customs should be granted a Nobel Prize for Medicine!” a netizen surnamed Fei said.