US assails Beijing over sentencing of Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai
- The Swedish national was given a 10-year prison term for ‘providing intelligence to overseas entities’, though Beijing provided no specifics about the charge
- Gui’s case has been held up as an example of the lengths to which Beijing will go to silence critics
The United States on Thursday condemned China’s sentencing of Gui Minhai, the Hong Kong bookseller and publisher accused by Chinese authorities of providing intelligence to foreign entities.
Gui, a 55-year-old a Swedish national, was one of a number of Hong Kong-based booksellers who disappeared in 2015, only to appear on Chinese state television to say while in custody that he had “turned himself in” in relation to a traffic accident in Ningbo years earlier.
On Monday, a Chinese court sentenced him to 10 years in prison and deprivation of political rights for five years for “illegally providing intelligence to overseas entities”.
The statement, issued by department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus, made specific mention of Gui as a “Swedish citizen”, an apparent swipe at the claim from Chinese authorities earlier this week that he had voluntarily applied for Chinese citizenship in 2018, while in detention.
Since China does not permit citizens to hold two nationalities, such an application would have effectively revoked Gui’s Swedish citizenship, potentially restricting the ability of Swedish officials to provide consular support.
