Daughter of Hong Kong bookseller: Don’t let China get away with illegal abductions

The daughter of a Hong Kong-based bookseller and publisher whose disappearance caused international uproar says her father is being held without trial.

Angela Gui was testifying before the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China on Tuesday, about the alleged abduction of her father Gui Minhai from his home in Thailand.

Gui – a Swedish passport holder – was one of five booksellers who disappeared in late 2015. He reemerged months later in China to make an apparent confession on state television to a 2003 fatal hit and run incident.

Angela Gui testifies before the CECC.

“I didn’t hear or see anything of my father until a clearly staged and badly put together confession video of him was aired on Chinese state TV,” Angela Gui said.

“My father, a Swedish citizen who was abducted by Chinese state agents from a third sovereign country, is still in unofficial and illegal detention somewhere in China, without access to consular visits or legal representation.”

Angela Gui urged the U.S. to pressure China for information on her father’s case, and “to make sure that Chinese authorities are not allowed to carry out illegal operations on foreign soil.”

“In the so-called confession my father says he traveled to China voluntarily — but if this is true, then why is there no record of him having left Thailand?” Gui said.

“Only a state agency, acting coercively and against both international and China’s own law could achieve such a disappearance.”

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request to comment on Angela Gui’s allegations, but has previously denied abducting the men.

Disappearing booksellers

The disappearance of the five Hong Kong booksellers sparked mass protests, particularly after allegations that one of them, Lee Bo, was abducted by Chinese police, who are not allowed to operate in the partially self-governing city.

A British passport holder, the UK had said that Lee was “involuntary removed” from Hong Kong and the case was a “serious breach” of a bilateral treaty with China.

Lee later returned to Hong Kong where he told officials he’d been in mainland China to help with an investigation into Gui Minhai.

The other men also appear to be cooperating with Chinese authorities. However, supporters and some family members said the men’s public statements were made under duress.

Beijing maintains that all the men – including Lee and Gui – handed themselves over voluntarily to Chinese authorities.

China's international hunt for dissidents —

For critics of China and their families, fears that nowhere is safe as Beijing targets dissidents beyond its borders.

Gui Minhai —

This Chinese-born Swede, right, ran publishing house Mighty Current in Hong Kong, known for printing political gossip about the Chinese leadership. He disappeared from his apartment in Thailand on October 17. Three months later, he suddenly appeared on Chinese state television, confessing to a 2003 hit and run. His supporters say he was kidnapped by Chinese agents and the Thai police tell CNN they have no record of him leaving the country.

Lee Bo —

Gui Minhai's business partner, Lee Bo was last seen on December 30 near his company's warehouse in Hong Kong. Hong Kong police have since confirmed he is in mainland China. Lee's disappearance sparked demonstrations in Hong Kong, where protestors believe his arrest was a violation of the former colony's autonomy. Lee and Gui's supporters say Mighty Current was working on a book about the love affairs of Chinese President Xi Jinping. UK authorities say they are "deeply concerned" about the possible detention of Lee, a British passport holder, and his colleagues.

Li Xin —

The former editor of a prominent Chinese newspaper, Li said he was pressured by local authorities to spy on human rights advocates and NGOs. He tried to seek asylum in India and then Thailand. After speaking to his wife from a train near the Thai-Laos border on January 11, he disappeared for more than three weeks. His wife told CNN the two next spoke on the phone on February 3. Li refused to disclose his location and told her he "voluntarily came back to China to accept an investigation."

Dong Guangping —

A former Chinese police officer, Dong was arrested several times for participating in pro-democracy protests. He fled to Thailand with his family in 2015 seeking safety from Chinese authorities and a better life for his daughter, according to his wife Gu Shuhua. Despite UN recognition as a refugee, the Thai authorities arrested him in October for an immigration violation. Gu says her husband's immigration fine was paid by the Chinese government who then took him back to China. Since his arrest in Bangkok, she says her only contact with Dong has been seeing him in police custody on Chinese state television.

Jiang Yefei —

A political cartoonist and leader in the Chinese dissident community in Thailand, Jiang Yefei, right, was arrested alongside Dong Guangping in Bangkok and sent to China. Amnesty International says he fled China after being detained and tortured because of his criticism of the government's response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. He appeared imprisoned on Chinese state television in November, asking for "lenient treatment."

Bao Zhuoxuan —

A 16-year-old student, Bao fled China after the detention of his parents in a government crackdown on human rights lawyers. Amnesty International says he and his traveling companions were picked up in the Myanmar border town of Mong La on October 6 and returned to China. Rights groups say he is now under house arrest at his grandparents' house in Inner Mongolia. Chinese state media denied reports the boy has been threatened or harassed and said he is enrolled in local school.

China's international hunt for dissidents

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Long arm of Beijing

As Beijing appears to be cracking down on critics beyond China’s borders, dissidents have spoken of their fear and frustration over the lack of international support.

“The heavy hand of the Chinese government has expanded beyond its borders to intimidate and stifle critical discussion of the Chinese government’s human rights record and repressive policies,” Representative Chris Smith, co-chair of the CECC, said at the hearing.

Wen Yunchao, who is currently seeking political asylum in the U.S., said in written testimony to the panel that family members back in China have been “harassed, blackmailed and threatened numerous times” over his alleged involvement in an open letter calling on President Xi Jinping to resign.

“The Chinese government’s long arm keeps stretching longer and longer,” Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, president of the Uyghur American Association, said in a statement.

“It’s obvious that if China isn’t pressured to stop this kind of harassment, no one will be safe, regardless of where we live.”

CNN’s Yuli Yang and intern Anna Kook contributed to this report.