On Wednesday October 17, it was exactly three years since Swedish publisher Gui Minhai was kidnapped by Chinese security agents in Thailand. He was then taken across the border to China, where he have been imprisoned without a trial since October 2015.
Beginning this spring, the Chinese authorities have been engaging in a smearing campaign against Gui Minhai, spearheaded by the Chinese embassy in Stockholm. (I have written about this campaign in detail here.)
In short, the Chinese authorities have made up a bunch of lies about Gui Minhai, which has been conveyed in various ways to Swedish medias and organisations and politicians. The accusations mainly concerns criminal activities that Gui Minhai was allegedly involved with during his time in Sweden.
Ultimately, those accusations constitutes an attempt to create a discussion about Gui Minhai’s personality rather than the Chinese authorities treatment of him. This is a well known strategy often employed by the Chinese authorities, and is best meet by countering their accusations with facts.
Due to this, I was assigned to investigate China’s smearing campaign against Gui Minhai this summer. The result is a short book titled ”Imprisoned, Humiliated and Discredited” that was launched at the Gothenburg book fair last month, and also translated into English for the Frankfurt book fair last weekend.
To maximise the circulation of the text, I have been permitted by the book publisher and organisations that assigned me to spread the book here on my blog. Hence, you can access a full PDF of this short book below, or via Scribd.
The text is also available in full via the website of the Swedish newspaper Expressen. Perhaps the text can give some new insights for readers following this case, or even a new angle for medias covering the case on Wednesday.
Please help to spread the book, and do not forget the case of Gui Minhai that is entering its fourth year this week!
