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CHINA

Celebrate the ‘Year of the Dragon’ in Stockholm

As Chinese people around the world prepare for the start of the 'Year of the Dragon', a Stockholm museum is doing its part to celebrate the Chinese new year in the Swedish capital.

Published: 20 January 2012 14:49 CET
Celebrate the 'Year of the Dragon' in Stockholm

In recent months, much of what has been written about China in the Swedish press has been related to the unsuccessful sale of Swedish automaker Saab to Chinese carmakers.

But around midday on Saturday, anyone who ventures into central Stockholm will be confronted by a different symbol from China: a dragon.

And not just any dragon, but what is being hyped as Sweden’s longest dragon parade, assembled as part of the Chinese new year celebrations organized by the Museum of East Asia (Östasiatiska museet).

According to the Chinese calendar, January 23rd marks the start of the Year of the Dragon, and to mark the occasion, the Museum of East Asia has a full slate of events planned for Saturday, January 21st to kick off the celebrations.

Following the parade, the museum will put on a number of dragon-themed activities for visitors young and old interested in ringing the start of the Chinese new year.

According to the museum’s Birgitta Hansson-Sidvall, more than 3,000 people turned out to last year’s event, which marks its seventh year this year.

And for Chinese residents in Sweden, the Year of the Dragon festivities won’t stop on Saturday.

Traditionally, Chinese new year celebrations last 15 days, ending with a Lantern Festival.

“We invite friends who have some connection to China to our home for Chinese dinner with dumplings, hotpot, spring rolls, all kinds of Chinese delicacies,” says Wang Leyun, an artist and teacher who lives on Södermalm in Stockholm after moving to Sweden 1991 from Hangzhou.

“A friend who studied in China usually gives ‘hongbao’ to the children,” she adds, referring to the Chinese name for the small red packets that usually contain some money for good luck.

So even you can’t make it to Stockholm for the Saturday celebrations, there is still plenty of time to mark the coming of the Year of the Dragon.

The Museum of East Asia’s Chinese new year celebrations begin at 11.30am on Saturday, January 21st, with the Dragon parade starting at Sergels Torg at noon. See the link below for more information.

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CHINA

China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as ‘political farce’

China on Tuesday blasted a democracy conference in Copenhagen attended by Taiwan's president and a Hong Kong activist alongside Danish government officials this week, qualifying it a "political farce".

Published: 11 May 2021 13:30 CEST
China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as 'political farce'
Demonstrators gathered outside the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday. Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

The Copenhagen Democracy Summit was held Monday and Tuesday in the Danish capital and organised by the Alliance of Democracies, an organisation targeted by Beijing sanctions in March and founded by former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

In addition to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod also participated in the forum by video link, which Beijing said violated “the one-China principle.”

“This summit is a political farce,” the Chinese embassy in Denmark wrote in a statement published on Tuesday. “Inviting those who advocate Taiwan and Hong Kong ‘independence’ to the meeting violates the one-China principle and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” it said.

“Some hypocritical western politicians are good at meddling in other countries’ internal affairs and creating divisions and confrontation in the name of ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’. They are bound to fail,” it added.

At the conference on Monday, Kofod said it was “deplorable” that Beijing had imposed sanctions on 10 European individuals and organisations in response to EU sanctions on Xinjiang officials over their actions against the Uyghur Muslim minority.

Like most countries, Denmark applies the one-China principle — under which Beijing bars other countries from having simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taipei — though it does maintain relations with Taiwan.

Cut off politically from the rest of China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the territory is self-governing but is not recognised by
the United Nations.

Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province that will one day return under its control, by force if necessary.

China’s sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers breaching Taiwan’s air defence zone on a near-daily basis.

“Our government is fully aware of the threats to regional security, and is actively enhancing our national defence capabilities to protect our
democracy,” Tsai told the conference in a video address on Monday. US President Joe Biden is expected to present his China strategy soon, as
calls mount for him to publicly commit to defending Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

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