China says detained Swedish citizen is Chinese, calls on Sweden to respect Beijing's handling of case

Record ID: 101844

  • Title: China says detained Swedish citizen is Chinese, calls on Sweden to respect Beijing's handling of case
  • Date: 26th May 2016
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (MAY 26, 2016) (REUTERS) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN HUA CHUNYING WALKING IN FOR REGULAR BRIEFING MEDIA SEATED BRIEFING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN, HUA CHUNYING, SAYING: "Firstly I'd like to say - and Gui Minhai has also admitted this - he is Chinese. So I think from the point of view of the Swedish government, Sweden is a country with rule of law so it should understand it should respect the legal sovereignty and legal independence of other countries, and should respect the right of China's state security organisations to deal with cases in accordance with the law. As to whether his confession to the case in question was genuine or not, I think Sweden cannot just judge things based on first impressions and say that all his comments are not true, right?" EXTERIOR OF CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY CHINESE NATIONAL FLAG FLYING
  • Embargoed: 10th June 2016 10:54
  • Keywords: China Sweden Gui Minhai rights Swedish citizen human rights U.S. daughter
  • Location: BEIJING, CHINA
  • City: BEIJING, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014JG2WCN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:China said on Thursday (May 26) that detained Swedish citizen Gui Minhai is Chinese, and called on Sweden to respect Beijing's handling of case.
    The comments came after the daughter of the Hong Kong-based bookseller appealed on Tuesday (May 24) for U.S. help in pressing China for information about his status and securing his release.
    Angela Gui told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China that her father, Gui Minhai, a naturalized Swede who gave up his Chinese citizenship, had been detained for eight months without trial and was being denied consular access or legal representation.
    She added that she had no idea where her father was.
    Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Gui's case was for the Chinese authorities alone to deal with.
    "Firstly I'd like to say - and Gui Minhai has also admitted this - he is Chinese. So I think from the point of view of the Swedish government, Sweden is a country with rule of law so it should understand it should respect the legal sovereignty and legal independence of other countries, and should respect the right of China's state security organisations to deal with cases in accordance with the law," she said.
    Gui Minhai disappeared in Thailand in October and subsequently appeared in a tearful confession broadcast on Chinese state television in January in which he said he had turned himself in to mainland authorities and been detained for "illegal book trading."
    "As to whether his confession to the case in question was genuine or not, I think Sweden cannot just judge things based on first impressions and say that all his comments are not true, right?" Hua added.
    Many in Hong Kong and some foreign diplomats suspect Gui Minhai and four associates, who sold books critical of Chinese leaders, were illegally abducted by mainland agents. China has denied any wrongdoing.
    Their disappearance sparked fears that China was overriding the "one country, two systems" formula protecting Hong Kong's freedoms since its return to China from British rule in 1997.
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