ABFE Calls on U.S. State Department to Demand China Release Bookseller Gui Minhai

On Wednesday, March 4, the American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) sent a letter (full text below) to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging the State Department to demand that the Chinese government release Hong Kong bookseller and publisher Gui Minhai. The American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom, the Authors Guild, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the Freedom to Read Foundation co-signed the letter.

The letter comes as Gui, a Chinese-born Swedish national, was sentenced to 10 years in Chinese jail on February 24. The Chinese court charged Gui with “illegally providing intelligence” overseas. Gui initially disappeared in 2015 before resurfacing in Chinese detention. After being briefly released under house arrest in 2017, Gui was once again seized by Chinese officials in 2018. While in detention, Gui has made forced confessions and statements saying he resists assistance from organizations and countries working for his release.

In the letter sent to the State Department, the co-signatories stated that Gui’s case “continues to send a clear and intimidating message to writers, publishers, and booksellers in Hong Kong that tackling politically sensitive topics can imperil an individual’s freedom and safety. Mr. Gui’s release is crucial to China’s compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees a right to free expression.”

The news of Gui’s sentence sparked outrage internationally as President of PEN Hong Kong Tammy Ho Lai-Ming called the charge “flimsy” and sentence “excessive.” Similarly, Patrick Poon, a China researcher at Amnesty International, noted, “Gui Minhai has all along been kept by the Chinese authorities after he went missing in Thailand in 2015. Illegally providing intelligence to foreign entities? How could he do that?”

March 4, 2020

The Honorable Mike Pompeo
Secretary of State
U.S. State Department
Harry S. Truman Building
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We, the undersigned, urge the State Department to take action and forcefully demand that the Chinese government release Hong Kong bookseller and publisher Gui Minhai. On February 24, 2020, Mr. Gui, a Chinese-born Swedish national, was sentenced to 10 years in Chinese jail by the Nigbo Intermediate People’s Court. The court charged Mr. Gui with “illegally providing intelligence” overseas. In addition to his 10-year sentence, Mr. Gui was also stripped of political rights for five years.

Mr. Gui, co-owner of Mighty Current publishing which has sold and published books critical of the Chinese Communist party’s regime, disappeared in 2015 before resurfacing in Chinese detention. While in detention, Mr. Gui made a forced confession about his involvement in a hit-and-run car accident. After being briefly released under house arrest in fall 2017, Mr. Gui was once again seized by plainclothes Chinese officials in January 2018 while on his way to Beijing with two Swedish diplomats for medical treatment for ALS symptoms. On February 8, 2018, Mr. Gui was once again coerced by Chinese police into making a statement saying he resisted any help from organizations or countries working for his release.

We strongly believe, given the latest updates on the situation, that the U.S. State Department must continue to demand in the strongest terms that Chinese officials release Mr. Gui and allow him to return to Sweden.

Mr. Gui’s sentence is an egregious violation of his civil liberties. The books Mr. Gui sold and published have been banned in mainland China but are available in Hong Kong. The publication of these works is protected under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

This case continues to send a clear and intimidating message to writers, publishers, and booksellers in Hong Kong that tackling politically sensitive topics can imperil an individual’s freedom and safety. Mr. Gui’s release is crucial to China’s compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees a right to free expression.

We respectfully urge the State Department to keep the pressure on Chinese authorities to release Mr. Gui.

Sincerely,

American Booksellers for Free Expression

The American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom

The Authors Guild

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

The Freedom to Read Foundation