Together with my EPP colleagues Leopoldo López Gil and Antonio López-Istúriz White, I have sent the following written question to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell:
Swedish-Chinese citizen Gui Minhai, a bookseller known to have published books critical of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, has been unlawfully kept in China since 2015 after been allegedly abducted by Chinese agents while he was in Thailand. In February 2020, he was sentence to 10 years in jail for “illegally providing intelligence overseas”.
Despite numerous attempts, Sweden has not been allowed to provide consular support to its citizen nor have the numerous demands by Sweden’s foreign minister calling for his release have been fulfilled.
As China claims that it does not recognise dual citizenship, the Ningbo Intermediate People’s Court declared Chinese citizenship of Mr. Gui to have been reinstated since 2018.
In 2016, the European Parliament issued a Resolution on Minhai Gui calling on China to release or drop all charges against peaceful government critics, anti-corruption activists, lawyers and journalists.
To this end, during the recent 10th EU-China Strategic Dialogue, has the HR/VP:
- called China to ratify The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and/or to sign the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances?
- raised human rights issues and mediated for the demands of the Swedish Government in order to release Gui Minhai, or at least provide him with consular help?
David Lega, Member of the European Parliament (SE)
Leopoldo López Gil, Member of the European Parliament (ES)
Antonio López-Istúriz White, Member of the European Parliament (ES)
