China quiet about bookseller ‘snatched’ off train in front of Swedish diplomats

Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai has disappeared again, and China isn’t saying where to or why

A Swedish citizen who was detained in China for two years is apparently back in Chinese custody, being snatched away by plainclothes officers on a train to Beijing, right in front of a pair of Swedish diplomats.

Gui Minhai was one of five managers and staff at Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Books, a book store known for publishing material and gossip critical of China’s central government, who mysteriously went missing in late 2015. Gui disappeared from his holiday apartment in Thailand in October of that year, only to reappear in January 2016 on Chinese state television, making a tearful “confession” to killing a student while drunk driving in the mainland over a decade ago.

Gui, who was born in China, became a Swedish citizen in the 1990s after going there to study. However, during his taped “confession,” he insisted that he wanted to handle his case without the help of Swedish authorities, something that his friends and family say he was clearly forced into saying. During their detainments, the booksellers were all questioned about their involvement in an “illegal book trading ring” on the mainland. In their televised confessions, Gui was fingered as the head of this illicit business.

After serving time for a so-called “traffic offense,” Gui was formally released from Chinese custody last October, however, his daughter Angela Gui said that she had no idea where he was or how to contact him. Eventually, Angela, who is studying in the United Kingdom, discovered that her father was living in an apartment in the city of Ningbo under police surveillance, where she was able to communicate with him through Skype.

On Monday, Angela told the New York Times that her father was now back in Chinese custody once again after being taken off a Beijing-bound train on Saturday, even as he was being escorted by two Swedish diplomats.

“I just know that things have taken a very drastic turn for the worse. This group of about 10 men in plain clothes just came in and grabbed him from the train and took him away,” she said, adding that the men claimed to be from the police, but did not produce a warrant.

To make things even worse, she said that Gui had been traveling to Beijing in order to undergo a medical exam at the Swedish embassy after being diagnosed with the neurological disease ALS. Angela noted that her father had shown no symptoms for the disease before being taken into custody in 2015.

The New York Times reports that after Gui was taken away, Chinese officials told the Swedish diplomats that he was suspected of sharing secret information with them and of meeting with them illegally.

News that Gui was back in Chinese custody set off a firestorm of outrage from international rights groups. Amnesty International’s China researcher William Nee said that the detention should serve as a “wake up call” to the international community, while Human Rights Watch called on Sweden and the European Union to “respond with strong actions.”

On Monday, the Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed that Gui had been grabbed off of a train in front of Swedish diplomats, adding that the incident was being handled “with the utmost seriousness.” China’s ambassador to Sweden has reportedly been summoned to provide more information about the detention.

Meanwhile, the Chinese side has been notably more quiet about the incident. At a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying neatly dodged around the issue, claiming that she was not aware of any details, while also implying that the Swedish diplomats who had been accompanying Gui had broken Chinese laws and regulations — without actually explaining what laws were broken.

State tabloid the Global Times has at least weighed in on the incident, blaming Western media for interfering in China’s judicial process:

China is advancing the rule of law and it is incredible that a person can be taken away by police without reason. The Chinese police will definitely not take Gui away without evidence and not following legal procedures, especially when his case is being closely watched by Western media. The police will only inform individuals and institutions that are legally required to be notified, and is not obliged to please Western media.

Sweden is in touch with Chinese authorities over the issue but has not revealed details to the media. This suggests that it is not unusual that Western media is not fully informed about this case and they have no right to question Chinese police.

The nationalistic tabloid adds that while in China, Gui must obey Chinese law and not “undermine China’s national interests,” concluding that: “Western media reports are guided by its ideological logic, but China follows legal reasons in handling its own affairs. This is a diversified world.”