US 'deeply concerned' over China detention of Swede

This file picture taken on January 3, 2016 shows Hong Kong police walking past a missing person notice of Gui Minhai (L), posted on top of the sign for China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong, before Gui resurfaced only to be snatched for a second time

The United States on Saturday expressed deep concern about the case of Hong Kong book publisher Gui Minhai, allegedly snatched by Chinese police while being accompanied by Swedish diplomats.

His disappearance has sparked a diplomatic row between Stockholm and Beijing.

"We are deeply concerned that Swedish citizen Gui Minhai was detained on January 20," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

"We call on Chinese authorities to explain the reasons and legal basis for Mr Gui's arrest and detention, disclose his whereabouts, and allow him freedom of movement and the freedom to leave China."

Gui's daughter Angela Gui has said he was detained by around 10 plainclothes police while on a train to Beijing from the eastern city of Ningbo, where he was living, while accompanied by two Swedish diplomats.

He was going to see a Swedish doctor, she said.

On Wednesday the European Union ambassador to China called for Gui's immediate release.

"The United States and our European partners are bound by shared principles of liberty, equality, and human dignity," Nauert said.

Gui was one of five Hong Kong-based booksellers known for salacious titles about the lives of China's political elite.

This is the second time he has been snatched.

He first went missing in 2015 while on vacation in Thailand and later resurfaced at an undisclosed location in China. Chinese authorities said they had released Gui in October.

Amnesty International has called his latest disappearance "absolutely appalling."

Alicia Vikander's incredible journey in the film world

Two years ago she received an Oscar. Now she is on Sweden's visit to Göteborg's film festival, where she received the festival's honorary award. But despite a comedy career, Alicia Vikander takes nothing for granted.

"It has been a heaven trip in recent years. In the United States, I have often received the question, "Did you ever dream about becoming a Hollywood star?", But there was no way in my world. The world of the film was also a fantasy world, as it is. But I've worked hard, and when you expose yourself to work, you can also get lucky and I've got it, "says Alicia Vikander to Kulturnyt's reporter Emma Engström. 

Alicia Vikander has not even completed 30 years but has already made a number of memorable roles in both Hollywood and in Swedish films, but despite her success, she is humble for the future:

"I've never been close to being blasé, it's quite clear that as an artist everyone gets to fight very much to hear his voice. We jump between different projects, you are always back on the box one again, and then you are not freaky. To enter the first recording day on a new movie, it's something very vulnerable, says Alicia Vikander.