Sweden fails to respond to incident over tourists: FM

The Foreign Ministry urged Sweden on Monday to pay attention to China's concerns over the brutal abuse of three Chinese tourists by Swedish police in Stockholm, and take concrete measures to protect the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese tourists in the country.

The embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have strongly protested to the Swedish side, demanding it thoroughly investigate the incident, respond to the victims' concerns in a timely manner and report to the Chinese side as soon as possible, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular news conference on Monday.

However, Geng said, the Chinese side has so far yet to receive any information about the investigation from the Swedish side.

Swedish police have not given any feedback about the request of the Chinese embassy in Sweden for face-to-face communications about the incident, Geng said, adding that this fails to conform to diplomatic protocols and international practice.

A Chinese tourist surnamed Zeng, with his 64 and 67-year-old parents, arrived at the Generator Stockholm Hotel at midnight on Sept 2, only to find the room he booked online was not available for check-in until later in the day.

As his parents are in poor health, Zeng wanted the hotel staff to allow them to stay in the lobby, but his request was denied.

Staff called the police, who dragged his father out of the hotel even though he showed them the proof that his father suffered from cardiovascular disease, Zeng told China Daily, adding he and his parents were separately taken into three police cars and later were dropped off at a cemetery.

Zeng said he notified the Chinese Embassy of the incident and left Sweden.