The European Union's ambassador to China urged Beijing on Wednesday to immediately release a book publisher after the Swedish citizen was snatched for a second time, this time while accompanied by Swedish diplomats.

The case of Hong Kong-based Gui Minhai, 53, has sparked a diplomatic row between Stockholm and Beijing, with Chinese authorities declining to give any details about his whereabouts amid concerns about his health.

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

She said he was travelling to Beijing to see a Swedish doctor as he was showing symptoms of the neurological disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

"We expect the Chinese authorities to immediately release Mr Gui Minhai from detention and allow him to reunite with his family, to get consular support and to get medical support," EU ambassador Hans Dietmar Schweisgut told a news conference in Beijing.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who summoned China's ambassador to Stockholm twice within three days, had called on Tuesday for Gui's release, saying he should "be given the opportunity to meet Swedish diplomatic and medical personnel".

Asked about the EU and Swedish appeals, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: "I think there is no reason to them."

"Any foreign country should respect China's case-handling organs as they handle foreign citizen cases in China according to the law," Hua told a regular news briefing.

- 'Nobody can violate Chinese law' -

Civil society has come under increasing pressure since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, with authorities rounding up hundreds of lawyers and activists.

Gui, one of five Hong Kong-based booksellers known for salacious titles about the lives of China's political elite, first went missing in 2015 while on vacation in Thailand and resurfaced at an undisclosed location in China.

Chinese authorities said they had released Gui in October, but it was unclear to what extent he was a free man after serving a jail sentence over "a traffic incident".

Another EU diplomat said Gui's case was "without precedent".

"Kidnapping an EU citizen from Thailand and then abducting him again in the presence of Swedish diplomats crosses several red lines," said the diplomat, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

Wallstrom confirmed that Gui was again "arrested by Chinese authorities" in the presence of diplomatic staff who were "assisting a Swedish citizen in need of medical care".

She added that international rules give diplomatic staff the right to provide a Swedish citizen with consular support and raised alarm over his detention, which took place "without further explanation".

Hua said Chinese officials would "provide convenience and assistance to officials of foreign embassies and consulates as they discharge their responsibilities".

"At the same time, no one in China can violate Chinese laws," she said.

"Any foreign government that wants to truly protect her own citizens should do so by educating them, because in any country, including in China, everyone should respect the laws and regulations."

- 'Highest concern' -

In February 2016 after his first disappearance, Gui appeared on Chinese television, weeping as he confessed to involvement in a fatal car accident years before.

In another interview the same year, he also admitted trying to smuggle illegal books into China.

Amnesty International described Saturday's incident as "absolutely appalling" and called for Gui to be released and allowed to seek medical treatment.

The fact that he had been snatched in front of diplomats should be a "wake up call" to the international community, said Amnesty's China researcher William Nee.

Literary society and activist group PEN Hong Kong expressed "highest concern" over Gui's latest disappearance.

China was widely criticised after veteran rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo died from liver cancer while on medical parole in July last year.

Rights groups had pushed for him to be allowed to seek medical treatment abroad.

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