The
United States on Thursday demanded that
China immediately free Hong Kong-based bookseller Gui Minhai, a Swedish citizen who was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Gui, who was known for publishing salacious titles about China's political leaders, was snatched while on a train to
Beijing in February 2018 and this week sentenced on charges of illegally providing intelligence abroad.
"We call on the (Chinese) government to release him immediately and unconditionally," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement that "strongly" condemned the sentence.