Wikinews

Chinese Foreign Ministry confirms arrest of bookseller Gui Minhai

This is the stable version, checked on 18 December 2024. Template changes await review.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Related articles
Location of China
Collaborate!
China
China

On Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed they had detained Hong Kong-based bookseller Gui Minhai. Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said, "Gui Minhai broke Chinese law and has already been subjected to criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law by relevant Chinese authorities".

According to Minhai's daughter, Chinese police arrested Gui in Beijing in January. 53-year-old Minhai, who was diagnosed with a progressive neurodegenerative disease, was travelling to the Chinese capital to see a Swedish doctor. Minhai holds dual citizenship of Sweden and China, and has written about the Chinese Communist Party leaders of China, amongst them Xi Jinping, the president of China. Geng Shuang in his statement said, "I want to once again stress that China opposes any form of speech or actions that ignore China's legal sovereignty."

On Monday, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom stated, "Chinese action was contrary to basic international rules on consular support." "The current situation also raises questions about the application of the rule of law, including the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of liberty. We demand that our citizen be given the opportunity to meet Swedish diplomatic and medical staff, and that he be released so that he can be reunited with his daughter and family", Wallstorm added.

In October 2015, Gui disappeared in Thailand, and months later, he was found in China and stated he had surrendered for a 2003 case of driving under the influence of alcohol, in which reportedly a student died. He was imprisoned for two years, and was released in October, last year. He was not permitted to leave China.

Geng Shuang said, "Although Gui Minhai is a Swedish citizen, the case he is involved in must be handled in accordance with Chinese law. China and Sweden are maintaining open communication channels on this case."

Sources

 

Share this:           


 

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License

  This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License
Retrieved from "https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_Foreign_Ministry_confirms_arrest_of_bookseller_Gui_Minhai&oldid=4815872"