16.10.2017
About Gui Minhai (Ahai 阿海)
Gui Minhai, Swedish citizen, writer, poet, and Hong Kong-based publisher and bookseller, was kidnapped in October 2015 from his vacation apartment in Thailand and forcibly taken to China. In 2016, he was twice forced to appear on Chinese state TV. He remains in extralegal detention in an undisclosed location in China. His four colleagues were also detained and then let go after also being forced to “confess;” one, Lam Wing-kee, fled and told the truth about the abductions.
In 2012, Gui established Mighty Current Media in Hong Kong, a publisher and distributor of books specializing in mainland Chinese politics and the lives of Chinese politicians. Mighty Current bought Causeway Bay Bookstore in 2014.
Gui Minhai was last seen on October 17, 2015, when he left his holiday apartment in Pattaya, Thailand, with a man in a striped shirt who was speaking Chinese on his phone. Since then he has been in detention in mainland China without legal assistance or consular access.
Angela Gui, Gui Minhai’s daughter, has waged a determined public campaign to win his release: www.freeguiminhai.org
In late September 2017, the Swedish Ambassador to China, Anna Lindstedt, was given the opportunity to meet with Gui Minhai who appeared to be in good physical condition. It was the first time Swedish consular personnel had a chance to talk to Gui Minhai directly since his detention.
Source: Magnus Fiskesjö Cornell University, nf42@cornell.edu