Swedish man under ‘coercive measures’
Print Edition
A Swedish man detained in China last week is suspected of acts detrimental to the country’s national security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Peter Dahlin, the 35-year-old co-founder of the Chinese Urgent Action Working Group, was taken into custody on January 4, the organization said.
“Swedish citizen Peter Dahlin has been put under coercive measures in accordance with the law in Beijing on suspicion of engaging in acts that harm China’s national security,” said ministry spokesman Hong Lei at a regular briefing. “This case is being investigated.”
Compulsory measures, according to China’s Criminal Procedure Law, can include arrest, detention, summons, bail pending trial, or residential surveillance.
Endangering state security is a category in China’s criminal law for a number of offenses, including subversion of state power, separatism and espionage. The maximum sentence for some offenses in this category is the death penalty, although it also allows for foreigners to be deported.
Hong said Dahlin’s case was still under investigation. “China will safeguard lawful rights of foreigners in China and will assist the Swedish Embassy in China in carrying out its consular services,” he added.
Gabriella Augustsson, spokeswoman for the Swedish Embassy in Beijing, said that she could confirm that a 35-year-old Swedish male citizen had been detained in China and that the embassy was investigating. The embassy said it was working to set up a meeting with Dahlin.
Dahlin’s group said in a statement on Tuesday that he was detained on the evening of January 3 on his way to Beijing’s main airport, where he was due to fly to Thailand via Hong Kong, and that his whereabouts were unknown. His Chinese girlfriend has also “disappeared.”
Detention of foreigners on national security grounds is rare in China, though Japan said four of its citizens were held last year and accused of spying.
A Canadian Christian couple who ran a coffee shop in the Chinese border city of Dandong were detained on espionage charges in 2014. The wife was later granted bail.
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