Sweden expels Chinese journalist over national security fears, says lawyer

STOCKHOLM: Swedish authorities have ordered the expulsion of a Chinese journalist, saying she could pose a serious threat to national security, a lawyer representing the woman said on Monday.

The 57-year-old Chinese woman has lived in the country for almost 20 years and denied all the accusations, lawyer Leutrim Kadriu told Reuters.

Kadriu did not name the woman or say whether she had already left. He said he could not go into details on the charges as they concerned national security and were officially confidential.

“The security police have argued that it can be assumed that my client may pose a serious security threat. This assessment has been agreed by the Migration Agency, the Migration Court and the government,” the lawyer said.

The Migration Agency declined to comment.

Public broadcaster SVT did not give details of the charges, but said, without identifying its sources, that the woman had published articles on her website and had received payments linked to the reporting from the Chinese embassy in Stockholm.

She had also hosted Chinese authorities and business delegations on visits to Sweden and sought to arrange meetings with Swedish officials, SVT said.

China’s embassy in Stockholm was not immediately available for comment.

SVT said the woman was detained in October and Sweden’s Migration Agency decided to expel her soon after, in a ruling later upheld by a migration court. The government upheld the court’s decision last week, SVT added.