Ten years after Swedish publisher Gui Minhai was abducted, a visit by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Sweden is being described as a rare opportunity to push for his release, RSF reports.
Press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is calling on the Swedish government and its democratic allies to make Gui Minhai’s case a top priority during the Chinese minister’s visit to Europe, which includes Sweden.
Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen and publisher known for publishing books about China’s political leadership, disappeared while on holiday in Thailand in 2015. He later resurfaced in China in what was widely described as a forced televised confession.
In 2020, he was sentenced to ten years in prison on espionage charges that human rights organisations have dismissed as politically motivated.
“This state visit presents a crucial opportunity for the Swedish government to press for the release of its citizen, Gui Minhai. The fact that he’s still in detention a decade after being abducted is outrageous, and calls into question Sweden’s commitment and ability to protect its own citizens abroad,” said Aleksandra Bielakowska, Advocacy Manager for RSF Asia-Pacific.
She added that Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, his cabinet and Sweden’s allies should make it clear that “if China continues to refuse to release the publisher, there can be no business as usual.”
According to RSF, Gui Minhai’s daughter, Angela Gui, has not been allowed to speak with her father for nearly seven years and his whereabouts remain unknown.
The call comes after the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded in late 2025 that Gui Minhai’s imprisonment constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty. The European Parliament has also adopted resolutions urging China to release the Swedish publisher.
RSF notes that China remains the world’s largest jailer of journalists, with 121 currently detained, and ranks 178th out of 180 countries and territories in the organisation’s 2026 World Press Freedom Index.
