Sweden welcomes Dahlin's 'release'
China's foreign ministry confirmed on Tuesday that a Swedish national suspected of funding activities threatening China's national security had been expelled from the country, correcting the original wording that he was "released."
Swede Peter Dahlin, who is suspected of supporting criminal activities that endanger China's State security, was deported on Monday by China in accordance with the relevant law, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a daily briefing on Tuesday.
"I need to correct that he was not released but deported," Hua stressed, in response to a journalist's question.
"In accordance with the Criminal Procedure Law, Beijing State Security Bureau placed Peter under compulsory measures of residential surveillance at a designated residence. After inquiries, Peter owned up to the crime," she said.
"Prior to that, following the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, China informed the Swedish side about the relevant situation and arranged for the Swedish side to visit him," Hua added.
Dahlin was detained on January 3. He had co-founded the China Urgent Action Working Group which was involved in legal affairs.
Confirming with the Global Times on Tuesday, the Embassy of Sweden in China quoted Margot Wallström, the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, as saying that "I welcome that Peter Dahlin has been released and can be reunited with his family in Sweden. This has come about following frequent contact between the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Chinese representatives."
The embassy declined to provide more details on contact with the Chinese government.
Dahlin and some other people have been operating an unregistered legal aid group in the Chinese mainland, and had received undeclared money from overseas and carried out unregulated activities, the Xinhua News Agency reported on January 19.
Police said the organization hired and trained others to gather, fabricate and distort information about China, providing "China's human rights report" to overseas organizations.
It also organized others to interfere in sensitive cases, deliberately aggravate disputes and instigate public-government confrontations to create mass incidents, police said.
"We have become aware that certain people that we have supported ... have gone on to do acts in clear violation of the law," Dahlin confessed on a China Central Television (CCTV) broadcast on January 19. "I violated China's law through my activities here and I've caused harm to the Chinese government. I've hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. I apologize sincerely for this."
Expulsion without prosecution
If a suspect's deeds are not serious enough, despite grave charges, the suspect can be expelled without being prosecuted, Chen Zhonglin, dean of the Law School at Chongqing University, told the Global Times.
"Aside from criminal punishment, expulsion is also an administrative punishment which can be imposed without filing a criminal case. The public security department is entitled to expel a foreigner who violates Chinese law and is not welcome in China," Ruan Qilin, a professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times.
The Swedish foreign minister added that he was very concerned about another detained Swedish citizen, Gui Minhai.
Gui, a Hong Kong bookseller hyped as "missing" by overseas media, had turned himself in to police in the Chinese mainland in October 2015, after fleeing in 2004 while still on probation. Gui had been convicted of drunk driving after an accident that left a college girl dead in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province in December 2003.
He expressed his regret on CCTV on January 17, adding that he hoped the Swedish government could respect his personal choice, "let me deal with my own problem by myself."
Karin Nylund, Press Officer for the Communication Department of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, told the Global Times on Tuesday via e-mail that Sweden is continuing to seek clarification from the Chinese authorities about what had happened to Gui.
Sweden is also seeking to pay a visit to Gui.
