On Friday's episode of “Sweden News” broadcast by Sveriges Television (SVT), Sweden's national public broadcaster, the host presented an incorrect map of China, which excluded Taiwan Province and parts of Tibet, and made jokes about the Chinese family who claimed to have been mistreated by police during a trip to Stockholm.

During the show, the anchor made a joke and said the way the tourist screamed “help” sounded more like “kill me now” in English. The program then uploaded a segment to Youku, a popular Chinese video website, under the name of Sweden Official Channel and titled it “Welcome to Sweden."

Geng Shuang, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made a stand against the SVT program. He said that "it is full of the racism on Chinese and other ethnic groups. The program itself violates the media ethics and we condemn it."

The Chinese Embassy in Stockholm on Saturday also responded by criticizing SVT, Sweden's largest television station. "The program breaks the basic moral principles of mankind, and gravely challenges human conscience and is a serious violation of media professional ethics. To think that such things could happen in Sweden, an advocate of ethnic equality," the embassy said.

Furthermore, Sweden is characterized by a high-quality life, excellent healthcare, and multiculturalism, which attracts people from different ethnic backgrounds to work, live and visit. Swedish politicians regularly portray the country as liberal and multicultural for the sake of their own interests.

But, are all ethnic groups able to coexist and be treated equally in Sweden? Apparently not. Given the behavior of Swedish police toward Chinese tourists, the government should issue an official apology to the victims. However, Stockholm has done no such thing. Instead, SVT made the situation worse by insulting Chinese people again.

It seems to be a paradox for the Swedish government, which flaunts liberty and equality, while simultaneously mistreating Chinese tourists because of their color. It's undoubtedly racism. Police bullying and insults hurled by Sweden's public broadcaster are the embodiment of racism among many Swedish people, especially politicians. Admittedly, this behavior does not characterize the large percentage of Swedish people, but the negative actions of a few can damage the world's view of the rest.

“Sweden News” isn't in line with Western media ethics. Objectivity has always been one of the most important hallmarks of good journalism. Although it is impossible for a journalist to remain completely objective in coverage, reporting the real facts is the bottom line.

SVT, however, violated the principles of media ethics. Instead of reporting the facts in an effort to reduce the sting of the behavior of Swedish police, the broadcaster insulted Chinese tourists using a so-called “Swedish sense of humor.” The coverage was not helpful in addressing the problem but had a significant negative impact on the relationship between China and Sweden.

Calling the show an entertainment program does not provide a shield from criticism. As Sweden's largest TV channel, SVT should have covered the issue in an objective manner, and tackled the problem rather than fueling it with racism. From a journalistic perspective, SVT has failed its duty to guide public opinion in the right direction.

As the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, Sweden has always been seen as one of the most important partners of China in terms of politics, trade, finance, and culture. Their cooperation has benefitted people in both countries. Although the Swedish policemen and SVT's insults do not represent the whole country, the consequences are very serious for China-Sweden relations.

It's better for the Swedish government to reflect on the behavior and apologize to the Chinese tourists, rather than exacerbate the situation.