Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Margot Wallstrom on Friday condemned China’s detention of two Swedish nationals as “unacceptable,” as the EU called in a statement for a “swift resolution” of the case.
“We said, through diplomatic channels, that it is unacceptable, that we want information and we want to see them,” Wallstrom said.
One of those detained was activist Peter Dahlin, who worked for the Chinese Urgent Action Working Group.
He was detained two weeks ago at Beijing Capital International Airport while attempting to board a plane bound for Thailand.
State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) on Tuesday aired footage of a dazed and harried-looking Dahlin apologizing to China for his alleged actions.
Xinhua news agency also published quotes from the video.
The previous day, CCTV had broadcast a video of Swedish national Gui Minhai (桂民海), co-owner of publishing house Mighty Current in Hong Kong, confessing to a years-old drink-driving offense, which occurred in China, and saying he did not want Stockholm to interfere with his case.
China-born Gui was rumored to be preparing a tell-all book about the love life of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
He disappeared from Thailand late last year before reappearing on Chinese national television in police custody.
While forced public confessions are an old practice in China, they have experienced a resurgence since Xi took power in 2012.
“It is completely unacceptable that they were made to parade themselves in this manner, on public television,” Wallstrom said.
“This kind of behavior is not acceptable,” she added.
Beijing only rarely accuses foreigners of endangering state security, a crime which can receive a heavy sentence.
“The EU expects a swift resolution of this case in accordance with international human rights standards,” a spokesman for the bloc said in a statement on Dahlin’s detention.
“Mr Dahlin’s arrest and detention are part of a worrying trend and call into question China’s respect for the rule of law and for its international human rights obligations,” the statement said. Meanwhile, a lawyer for Chinese activist Zhang Haitao (張海濤) on Friday said that his client has been jailed for 19 years in the volatile northwestern Xinjiang region over online posts criticizing the ruling Chinese Communist Party and for giving interviews to foreign media.
Journalism advocacy group Reporters Without Borders on Thursday urged the EU to impose sanctions on Chinese state media over the “forced confessions.”
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