Posted on November 18, 2019 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Beijing is furious that Chinese-born Swedish publisher Gui Minhai has received Swedish PEN’s Tucholsky Prize, given to a persecuted or exiled writer.

Gui was among five publishers and booksellers who disappeared in 2015 after printing books critical of the Chinese government, according to the Guardian.

He appeared in 2016 in custody, was released in 2017, and then seized again in 2018; since then, he has remained in prison.

In response to the award news, the Chinese embassy in Stockholm asked Swedish PEN to cancel the prize, calling Gui a criminal, blaming the decision on “ulterior political agenda and consistent biases and hostility against China” and predicted that all involved in the award would “surely suffer the consequences of their own actions.”

Swedish politicians and prize organizers rejected those claims.

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Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Awards, The Guardian

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