China deports Swedish human rights activist Peter Dahlin

by Asian Correspondent Staff-26th January 2016

THE Chinese government has released and immediately deported a Swedish man it accused of training and funding unlicensed lawyers in the country.

Swedish embassy spokesman Sebastian Magnusson confirmed Tuesday that Peter Dahlin had left China but was unable to provide further details.

Chinese authorities said in a statement he was suspected of “funding criminal activities harmful to China’s national security” and would be expelled, according to the New York Times.

Dahlin was featured in a 10-minute segment on state broadcaster CCTV last week in which he gave what was described as a confession for breaking Chinese law.

A number of doubts have been raised over Dahlin’s confession, with Quartz reporting last week on some discrepancies between what he actually said, and what was reported in Chinese.

He was arrested Jan. 3 on his way to Beijing’s international airport, becoming the first foreigner to become entangled in a wide-ranging crackdown on the country’s increasingly assertive legal rights groups.

Dahlin, 35, is a co-founder of the Beijing-based NGO Chinese Urgent Action Working Group.
He spent more than 20 days in detention before he was expelled from China this week.

The Swedish embassy issued a statement Friday in which it said it was seeking clarification of the charges against Dahlin and another detained Swedish national, Gui Minhai.

Gui Minhai also made a public – and according to some forced – apology on Chinese television this month, a number of months after he had gone missing from Thailand. He is one of five people involved in a Hong Kong book publishing operation who went missing in suspicious circumstances.

Additional reporting from Associated Press