Recently, the Swedish news agency, Tidningalnas Teleglambyra (TT), published an article on the demonstration staged by some people in front of the Chinese Embassy on July 13, “Manifestation för Gui Minhai i Stockholm”, which was then reprinted by other Swedish media. In this article, the participants of the demonstration said that they staged the demonstration because Gui Minhai has been in jail for 1,000 days without trial, and that he was jailed because he published books criticizing the Chinese Government. These statements are not consistent with the facts and represent a smear against China, which is totally unacceptable. The Embassy has sent a letter to TT to express firm opposition, and present the truth of the Gui Minhai case as well as China’s position as follows:
Gui Minhai has committed serious crimes in both China and Sweden. In the 1990s, Gui Minhai illegally established a school in Gothenburg and enrolled over 100 students from China to Sweden by deception. He swindled hundreds of thousands of US dollars this way and eventually led to the death of two students. On 23 June 1999, SVT broadcast a news report on Gui Minhai’ s fraudulent activities. To escape punishment of the Swedish law, Gui Minhai fled back to his hometown Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China, and has never returned to Sweden ever since.
In 2003, at 12:17 pm on December 8, Gui Minhai killed a young college girl while drunk driving in Ningbo and escaped from the scene. In August 2004, the Chinese court handled the case according to law and sentenced Gui Minhai to two years in prison with a two-year reprieve for the crime of causing traffic casualties. In November 2013, while he was still on probation, Gui Minhai used a fake identity to get a passport and fled out of China. In October 2015, Gui Minhai returned to China and turned himself in.
In October 2017, Gui Minhai was released in accordance with law after completing his two-year term for the crime of causing traffic casualties. In January 2018, he was suspected of several offences including illegal business operations and illegally providing state secrets and intelligence overseas. The Chinese public security authority used criminal coercive measures against him in accordance with law. This case is currently under investigation.
We have been in close communication with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs over the case, and we had agreed in principle to the Swedish side’s requests for consular access to Gui Minhai and medical consultation by a Swedish doctor for him. The Chinese Embassy has issued a visa to the Swedish doctor to go to China to visit him. Given that, we hope certain Swedish reporters should stop making irresponsible claims and accusations before knowing the facts. China is a country ruled by law with a commitment to law-based governance in all areas. All people are equal before the law. Gui Minhai’s criminal case in China must be dealt with by relevant Chinese authorities in accordance with Chinese law, in which no other side has the right to interfere. It is hoped that the Swedish side will respect the spirit of rule of law and respect China’s judicial sovereignty.
As the largest and the most professional news agency, TT should follow professional ethics and keep its reporting balanced, objective and fair. What is reported needs to be based on verifiable facts. It is hoped that TT will truly base its reporting on the aforementioned facts and cover China in a balanced, objective and fair way. With a positive and constructive attitude, the Chinese Embassy is ready to have open and candid communication with TT and all other Swedish media on any issue.