The Chinese Ambassador to Sweden, Gui Congyou recently stated during an interview on media SVT’s program 30 minutes that the case of Chinese-born Swedish book publisher and writer Gui Minhai is a “closed case” and no longer a consular matter between China and Sweden.
Gui Congyou has been China’s ambassador to Sweden since 2017 and referring to questions about democracy and the case of Gui Minhai, the Ambassador said, “We want good relations and good cooperation with Sweden. But it presupposes mutual respect and that we do not interfere in each other’s internal affairs.”
In February last year, Gui Minhai was sentenced to ten years in prison, a sentence that the Swedish government refused to accept and protested against. At the same time, China claimed that he became a Chinese citizen while in prison.
“The case has been removed from the archive concerning consular cases between China and Sweden,” the Chinese embassy in Stockholm wrote in February last year and Ambassador Gui Congyou repeated the statement during his interview.
“I want to say to all Swedish parties who pay attention to this case that Gui Minhai is a Chinese citizen. Gui Minhai is no longer a consular matter between our countries. The case is closed.”
Sweden claims that they have not received an application from Gui Minhai that he would like to renounce his Swedish citizenship.
