A screen grab showing Svenska Nyheter host Jesper Rönndahl . (YouTube)
I’ve written quite a lot about the importance of showing respect for your destination and its people when you travel. But, of course, it’s a two-way street.
Your hosts should also respect you. And that means that they probably shouldn’t poke fun of you on national television.
But that’s the situation in Sweden where the host of a satirical show called Svenska Nyheter, Jesper Rönndahl , had a few laughs at the expense of a Chinese family who were booted out of their hotel because they arrived early.
Video of the incident — which including children shouting “This is killing” — has gone viral, prompting the item on the television program, which in turn caused a diplomatic incident.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, Geng Shuang, said: “The [Svenska Nyheter ] anchor’s remarks are full of discrimination, prejudice and provocation against China and other ethnic groups, completely deviating from professional media ethics. We strongly condemn this.”
TV network boss Thomas Hall responded: “I think it is so apparent that this is comedy, assuming that you know Swedish. But at the same time I understand that if you don’t know Swedish it is possible to misunderstand.”
I don’t understand Swedish, or the Swedish sense of humour, but it would seem apparent that the incident was handled quite badly. Was it a topic for satire? I don’t know, but I do know many comics and comedy writers who believe that nothing is off limits.
However, it’s also true that China has had occasion to rebuke some of its own citizens for the way they behave when they travel. It even has a policy of “naming and shaming” offenders.
The South China Morning Post has listed 42 occasions when tourists, many of them Chinese, were caught behaving badly. These include incidents of air-rage and a woman who threw coins into a plane’s engines for “good luck”. She’ll need it if she ever wants to fly again.
Update: SCMP columnist Wei Yen has weighed in on the Swedish incident, noting: “All of us would be better off if we could practise a bit more tolerance. The Swedish hostel staff could be more welcoming, the police more helpful, the TV host more tactful, Chinese tourists more aware and the Chinese government have a better understanding of Western humour.”
