Gui Minhai

Gui Minhai (Chinese:桂敏海 or 桂民梅),[1][2][3] also known as Michael Gui,[4] (born 5 May 1964 in Ningbo, Zhejiang) is a Chinese–born Swedish scholar, and book publisher. He is a prolific author on books about Chinese politics and has written under the pen name AHai (阿海).[5][6] Gui is one of three shareholders of Causeway Bay Books, and one of five men who went missing in late 2015 in an incident known as the Causeway Bay Books disappearances – a case which has ignited fears worldwide over the collapse of "one country, two systems", as it appears that people could be subject to renditioning from Hong Kong and from third countries by Chinese law enforcers.[7] The authorities of the People's Republic of China remained silent about holding him in custody. This silence came to an end when a controversial video confession was broadcast on mainland media exactly three months after he was last heard from.

Biography

As a Peking University graduate from the History Department, Gui served as editor to the People's Education Press until 1988, when he departed for Sweden to study at the University of Gothenburg. After the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, he was naturalised as a citizen of Sweden. Upon obtaining his PhD from the University of Gothenburg in 1999, Gui returned to China and started a company in Ningbo, offering environmental engineering services.[8] He worked as a consultant in a German affiliate of Nordpool Consulting in 2003. In 2006, Gui joined the Chinese chapter of PEN International, through which he became acquainted with professionals in Hong Kong International PEN. In 2012 Gui set up Mighty Current Media in Hong Kong. The company acquired Causeway Bay Books in 2014.[9]

Gui had written some 200 books during his ten years as author/publisher. The books have been described in the Western media as "thinly-sourced, tabloid-style political books" which are outlawed in mainland China. His salacious and, many suspect, largely fabricated tales focused on the private lives of senior party leaders. The books's subjects have included Bo Xilai, Zhou Yongkang, and Chinese president Xi Jinping.[10] Because the works are deemed sensitive to the Chinese regime, Gui kept his movements to himself and his communications routed, and his work projects would also be shrouded in secrecy.[10] Gui has not set foot inside the PRC for a long period – he never attended to his father when he was ill, and did not return upon his death.[11]

Disappearance

On 17 October 2015 Gui was taken away from his apartment in Pattaya, Thailand by an unknown man. Two weeks later, four men came to search his apartment - ostensibly for his computer - but left without it.[12][13][14] The Thai authorities have no record of Gui leaving the country.[4] A manager from the estate where Gui lived, in an effort to contact Gui, dialled the number that last called her regarding Gui, to be told by a taxi driver that the four men, who had left the telephone in the taxi, wanted to go to a border town in Cambodia.[10] He was last heard from on 6 November when he called his wife to tell her that he was safe but was unwilling to reveal his whereabouts.[15] Gui's family contacted the Swedish embassy, and the Swedish police filed a report through Interpol, but the Guardian, noting that the military junta was becoming increasingly accommodating to Chinese demands, observed that the Thais had done little to advance the case.[10]

Xinhua News Agency published an article on 17 January 2016 alleging that Gui Minhai (article used the homonym "桂敏海") was involved in a traffic accident in Ningbo in December 2003 in which a female student died. The Ningbo Municipal Intermediate People's Court ruled the following August that Gui Minhai had committed a traffic crime. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, and the sentence was suspended for two years.[6][16] It said that Gui had fled abroad under the guise of a tourist in November 2004 using a borrowed identity card. The Xinhua article stated his age to be 46 years in 2005 – a discrepancy of five years compared with the details in Gui's Swedish passport, creating doubts that there may have been a case of mistaken identity.[17][18] The Xinhua article claimed that Gui gave himself up to public security officials in October 2015.[19][20] A video confession was released at the same time, broadcast on China Central Television. In it, a tearful Gui said: "Returning to the Chinese mainland and surrendering was my personal choice and had nothing to do with anyone else. I should shoulder my responsibility and I don’t want any individual or institutions to interfere, or viciously hype up my return". Gui also said, “Although I have Swedish citizenship, I truly feel that I am still Chinese — my roots are in China. So I hope Sweden can respect my personal choice, respect my rights and privacy of my personal choice and allow me to resolve my own problems”. Criminal investigations on other charges were said to be in progress.[19][20] On 19 January fellow Swedish citizen Peter Dahlin, cofounder of an NGO which provided legal training for local lawyers in China, appeared in a televised confession where he said he had violated Chinese law and "caused harm to the Chinese government. I have hurt the feelings of the Chinese people". Dahlin was deported.[7] Referring to the two confessions, Reporters Without Borders condemned China's "dissemination of forced 'confessions' that have no informational value". The organization urged the EU to sanction CCTV and Xinhua for "knowingly peddling lies and statements presumably obtained under duress".[21]

Gui Minhai's confession has been received with incredulity, and many of the facts surrounding his mysterious disappearance from Thailand, including the release of the video three months after him vanishing, have been called into question.[22][23] The president of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Jasper Tsang, said: "the China Central Television (CCTV) report [and broadcast of Gui Minghau's confession] did not seem to be able to calm the public. As the case drags on, there will be more speculation".[24] Human Rights Watch was quoted in the Wall Street Journal saying: "Given that Gui has been held nearly three months incommunicado, in a secret location, and without a lawyer, his confession on state-controlled TV lacks credibility."[25] The Washington Post said: "The narrative seems messy and incoherent, blending possible fact with what seems like outright fiction. It feels illogical, absurd even. But that may be the point. Televised confessions don't tend to trade in logic, or truth. They trade in fear."[26][27] The Guardian drew a connection with Operation Fox Hunt – to repatriate corrupt officials or opponents of the regime who have fled abroad launched by Xi Jinping in 2014.[10]

A personal friend of Gui and president of Independent Chinese PEN, Bei Ling, believes that Gui had not given himself up voluntarily but had in fact been abducted.[28] He confirmed that there had indeed been a drunk driving case involving Gui in which a young woman was killed but that the accident and his disappearance were unrelated.[29] Bei said that there was no official record of Gui Minhai's departure from Thailand, and that international law had been violated by Gui's kidnapping.[28] Gui's daughter dismissed the assertion that her father had returned to the mainland voluntarily.[20] Gui's daughter, who is a student in Germany, had been notified of her father's disappearance in an email from Lee Bo dated 10 November. Lee said he feared Gui had been taken to China "for political reasons".[4] Sweden has repeatedly requested transparency from China, and summoned the Thai ambassador for information in December.[20] After the appearance of the video confession, a Swedish envoy was finally allowed to visit Gui, the Swedish foreign ministry reported.[30]

In late February 2016, a mainland news website said that Gui was being held for illegal business operations. He is alleged to have knowingly distributed books not approved by China's press and publication authority – it was alleged that some 4000 such books had been sent by post under false cover to 380 buyers in 28 cities in mainland China since October 2014.[31]

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "北京大学历史学系本科1981级同学录". Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  2. ↑ 桂敏海用本名，與北大歷史系同級同學郭森，合譯瑞典學者文章："第三世界的神话和理论－《国外社会科学》". 国家哲学社会科学学术期刊数据库.
  3. ↑ "80年代，閱讀至少還有發抖的時刻——對話學者許志強". 作文通訊：錦瑟 (1): 頁40—44. 2014. 我記得我讀大學時，北大的桂敏海，他本人是寧波人，因为我同學跟他是老鄉，他也到這裏來，帶來他辦的雜誌。
  4. 1 2 3 "Exclusive: email reveals Lee Po feared Gui Minhai kidnapped by Chinese agents before he himself disappeared". South China Morning Post. 7 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 雍正十年1732:那条瑞典船的故事 平装 – 2006年1月1日 Amazon.com
  6. 1 2 "Missing Man Back in China, Confessing to Fatal Crime". The New York Times. 18 January 2016.
  7. 1 2 Ed Flanagan. "Disappearances, Forced Confessions: China Targets Dissent". NBC News.
  8. ↑ "我們與寧波共繁榮——首屆在甬外商投資企業家論壇發言選載". 寧波通訊 (in Chinese) (1): 頁26—28. 2001. 創業之路在故鄉－唐友環保工程（寧波）有限公司董事長兼總經理桂敏海……這一點，歐洲人反而重視，我在瑞典時就給很多瑞典企業講過跨文化交流的課
  9. ↑ "內地針對的是桂民海". Apple Daily (in Chinese).
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Oliver Holmes (8 December 2015). "Gui Minhai: the strange disappearance of a publisher who riled China's elite". The Guardian.
  11. ↑ "不理會央視桂民海片段 瑞典政府堅持尋真相". Apple Daily (in Chinese). 19 January 2016.
  12. ↑ "桂民海發神秘訊息予女　員工料失蹤或因新書". Oriental Daily News (in Chinese). 14 November 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "銅鑼灣書店東主失蹤後　曾有四人搜掠其住所　BBC：桂民海擬出版習近平內幕書" (in Chinese). 立場新聞. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  14. ↑ Hannah Beech. "China's Hunt for DissIdents Expands to Foreign Countries". Time. Pattaya, Thailand.
  15. ↑ "【書店5人失蹤】巨流傳媒瑞典籍股東桂民海疑泰國失蹤　瑞典外交部：嚴正看待". Ming Pao (in Chinese). 5 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "中国老年 Issues 1–12, 中国老年杂志社, 2005".
  17. ↑ "[今日说法]本期话题：求证(2005年4月8日)" (in Chinese). China Central Television. 11 April 2005. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "中国茉莉花革命".
  19. 1 2 "香港铜锣湾书店老板桂敏海"失踪"事件调查" (in Chinese). Xinhua News Agency. 17 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  20. 1 2 3 4 "Mystery deepens as two missing Hong Kong men surface in mainland China". Los Angeles Times. 20 January 2016.
  21. ↑ "Sanction Chinese state media: advocacy group". Yahoo News. 21 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "Questions raised after missing HK bookseller 'confesses' to drink-driving death on state TV". Hong Kong Free Press. 17 January 2016.
  23. ↑ Ma, Laura (19 January 2016). "Who believes China's narrative on Hong Kong's missing bookseller mystery?". South China Morning Post.
  24. ↑ "Pro-China lawmaker says Beijing must answer on missing HK booksellers". Yahoo News. 19 January 2016.
  25. ↑ "China says missing Hong Kong publisher Lee Bo is in mainland". Asian Correspondent. 19 January 2016.
  26. ↑ Emily Rauhala (18 January 2016). "Hong Kong bookseller's televised 'confession' was absurd and incoherent – and that's the point". The Washington Post.
  27. ↑ Zheping Huang (19 January 2016). "Chinese citizens don't believe Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai's public confession either". Quartz.
  28. 1 2 "香港铜锣湾书店案：瑞典寻求中国澄清桂民海下落" (in Chinese). BBC. 18 January 2016.
  29. ↑ "密友：桂民海失踪前會合一中國男子 四男子後進住所欲拿電腦". South China Morning Post (in Chinese). 18 January 2016.
  30. ↑ "Missing Hong Kong booksellers paraded on Chinese TV". BBC News. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  31. ↑ "Missing booksellers 'operated illegal business', but could return to HK soon - state media". Hong Kong Free Press. 29 February 2016.

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