Hong Kong demands answers from mainland police after 5 booksellers go missing

[Falling]

Hong Kong demands answers from mainland Chinese police after five booksellers go missing

Protests held on Sunday outside Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong amid fears that five men may have been secretly apprehended by mainland agents

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 03 January, 2016, 6:14pm
UPDATED : Monday, 04 January, 2016, 1:40am

Phila Siu
[email protected]

League of Social Democrats (LSD) protest against the mysterious disappearance of bookstore staff from Western Police Station to Liaison Office. Photo: Felix Wong

Hong Kong police are seeking *answers from their mainland counterparts over the mysterious disappearance of a bookseller and his associates involved in publications critical of the Chinese Communist Party, amid fears they might have been secretly *detained by law enforcement personnel from across the border.

While there was no official confirmation as to what had really happened to them, their case sparked protests at Beijing’s liaison office in Sai Wan yesterday.

Demonstrators expressed outrage that mainland agents may have overstepped their bounds in apprehending Causeway Bay Books majority shareholder Lee Bo in Hong Kong and then spiriting him across the border in a serious infringement of the “one country, two systems” principle.

Acting Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu said police were conducting a “thorough and professional” investigation, including looking at CCTV footage from around the location where the bookseller was last seen.

The scope of the investigation would also be extended to examine the last people the missing man had contacted, he said.

“Through an established mechanism, Hong Kong police can make inquiries to the mainland law enforcement agencies on whether any Hong Kong people have been detained on the mainland,” the acting security chief said. “Hong Kong police have already done this ... We are waiting for a reply.”

Concerned parties fear that mainland agents apprehended the bookstore owner secretly in Hong Kong and then spirited him across to Shenzhen. Photo: Felix Wong

He stressed that the only people who could enforce the law in Hong Kong were the city’s own relevant authorities, and the law protected everyone here.

The minister in charge of mainland affairs, Raymond Tam Chi-yuen, said he did not want to comment on speculative reports but stressed that all of the government’s offices on the mainland would provide assistance to Hongkongers who needed help.

The chief executive’s close confidante, executive councillor Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, said: “If mainland officers really came to Hong Kong to carry out law enforcement actions, and took people into the mainland, that would be a serious violation of the ‘one country, two systems’ policy.”

Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers say they'll press the government for answers after five employees from the Causeway Bay bookstore went missing. Photo: AP

But she also cautioned against too much speculation, citing President Xi Jinping’s assurance to the chief executive last month that the central government would be unshaken in its commitment to the policy.

Lee Bo, 65, was last seen on Wednesday in the Chai Wan warehouse of Mighty Current, the publishing house that owns the bookstore. He vanished weeks after his four associates went missing in similar circumstances.

Background: Controversial Hong Kong bookseller becomes fifth man to go missing in mysterious circumstances

Gui Minhai, owner of the publishing house, disappeared while on holiday in Thailand.

Missing person reports were made about three others who disappeared after visiting the mainland separately: bookstore manager Lam Wing-kei; general manager of the publishing house Lui Bo; and business manager, Cheung Jiping.

Lee’s wife has said her husband called her from Shenzhen the night he disappeared. He told her he was “assisting in an investigation” about the missing associates. She found it strange that Lee talked to her in Putonghua instead of Cantonese.

But a police source told the Post earlier there was no record of Lee leaving the city.

 

[eatshitndie]

they are in a tiong dungeon and force-fed with adorable quotes from mao's little red book. :p

 

[virus]

The book sellers holds the key. Neo will seek help from the oracle n save them from the matrix.

 

[no_faith]

Does the missing persons hold the power to change the world?

Maybe can try follow pay and pay, force them into exile in other country.

 

[Falling]

[video=youtube;sR6IUaIy4T8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR6IUaIy4T8[/video]

 

[taksinloong]

Beijing is too kind and civilized and tolerance towards rebellious people. Just execute a whole lot of them in public without trials and show the world how they will deal with such rebels especially those collaborated with the West to stir politics w Beijing.

Show resolve and steel firm ways that nothing anyone can do could shack.

Western craps has absolutely no values and are completely wrong from very fundamental.

 

[Falling]

Hong Kong booksellers disappear after 'planning book on Xi Jinping's love life'

A book on the love life of Chinese president Xi Jinping said to be cause of ‘abductions’ of Hong Kong publishers

Pro-democracy demonstrators hold up portraits of Causeway Bay Books shareholder Lee Bo (R) during a protest Photo: Reuters

By Neil Connor, in Beijing
9:05AM GMT 04 Jan 2016

Mystery surrounds the disappearance of a group of Hong Kong publishers after a lawmaker said at least one of the men could have been adducted by Chinese authorities because of plans to publish a book on President Xi Jinping’s love life.

Lee Bo became the fifth man working for the Mighty Current publishing house to have gone missing, it emerged on Friday, after four of his colleagues disappeared in October.

China's President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan China's President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan Photo: Reuters

Lee’s wife told media that her husband appeared to have been detained when he visited a warehouse used by the company in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

He later made a brief phonecall home saying he was "assisting in an investigation", using a number across the border in neighbouring Shenzhen.

The publishing house – which also runs the Causeway Bay bookstore - is known for tabloid-style books which are highly critical of Beijing. The books are also increasingly popular among mainland tourists who visit the city.

Democratic legislator Albert Ho told a press conference he believed Lee was “politically abducted and illegally transferred to the mainland,” saying he could have been held in relation to a specific book on the private life of Mr Xi.

"To my knowledge... the book concerns the story about the girlfriend...(from) some years ago," he said.

Maya Wang, China researcher for US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch, said Mighty Current had previously been targeted by Beijing’s censors.

“I know the book sellers have been asked not to publish books in the past,” Ms Wang told The Telegraph.

Protestors hold up missing person notices of (L-R) Mighty Current publisher of books critical of China company's general manager Lui Bo and colleagues Cheung Jiping, Gui Minhai, Lee Bo and Lam Wing-kei in Hong Kong Photo: AFP/Getty Images

“There was one specifically on the party disciplinary system which they did not publish. Some other publisher published it in Hong Kong.”

The case has sparked concern from politicians in Hong Kong over the apparent willingness of Chinese agents to enforce Beijing’s law in the city.

Hong Kong is governed by the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ rule, which gives greater civil rights to its residents than those on the mainland, and forbids Chinese police operating there.

“Now mainland personnel have enforced laws in Hong Kong illegally, will this result in a change of the one country two system?” Democartic party leader Emily Lau Wai-hing said in local media on Monday.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said “It would be unacceptable if mainland law enforcement agents enforce laws in Hong Kong,” according to the South China Morning Post newspaper.

Gui Minhai, a Swedish national and co-owner of the Mighty Current failed to return from a holiday in Thailand in October, while three other associates disappeared when they were visiting southern China, reports said.

Opponents of the Chinese government, including executives who have been ensnared in Beijing’s wide-ranging crackdown on corruption, often disappear before details emerge of them being held by authorities.

David Bandurski, editor of the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong, said Mighty Current publishes the “most sensitive facts and speculation about senior leadership”.

“What this potentially says about the pressures facing freedom of expression in Hong Kong – a protected value here – is potentially immense,” he told The Telegraph.

Police walk past missing person notices of Gui Minhai (L), one of five missing booksellers from the Mighty Current publishing house and Yau Wentian (R), a Hong Kong publisher who was last year jailed for 10 years while preparing to release a book critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping, posted on top of the sign of China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong

A named commentary in the fiercely nationalist Global Times newspaper on Monday accused the bookstore of “making a living by disturbing society on the mainland”.

"Whatever has happened, it is rootless to doubt that the policy of one country, two systems is changing and to claim that the mainland will control Hong Kong,” it said.

 

[eErotica69]

Beijing going to dynamite them?

 

[congo9]

If the Hongkie can send in their own Army and tanks, then I think they can demand an answer. They can ask for the truth.

If not, it's just a veil threat.

 

[apogee]

How come the Hongkies are not so vocal under the British? They too were detained secretly by the British.

Malaysia (with Singapore as part of it) once had its High Commissioner (who was a former CM of Singapore) in Australia disappearing because he was cunt struck. Cunt struck Honkies are known to have disappeared into Shenzhen.

 

[harimau]

Still relying on traditional distribution channels? Put on Internet lah! Let the whole world read! What is there to hide?

 

[Falling]

Missing Hong Kong bookseller is British citizen: UK

AFP
January 5, 2016, 11:56 pm

Hong Kong (AFP) - Britain confirmed Tuesday that one of five missing Hong Kong booksellers feared detained by Chinese authorities is a UK citizen, saying it was "deeply concerned" over the disappearances.

The case has sparked fury from lawmakers and activists in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, adding to growing unease that freedoms in the city are being eroded.

Lee Bo, 65, disappeared last week and was last seen in Hong Kong, where he is a resident.

All five missing men worked for the same Hong Kong-based publishing house Mighty Current, known for books critical of the Chinese government.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, visiting Beijing, told reporters: "We have urgently inquired with both Hong Kong and mainland authorities."

Hammond added that if Lee were charged with any offences, he should be tried in Hong Kong.

Foreign minister Wang Yi did not reply directly when asked whether China had detained the booksellers, but said policy towards Hong Kong remained "unchanged".

"We will continue to uphold the principles of 'one country, two systems', Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong, and a high degree of autonomy," he said.

He was also asked whether China would recognise Lee's British passport.

"Based on the basic law of Hong Kong and China's nationality law, this person in question is first and foremost a Chinese citizen," he said.

China does not recognise dual nationality of its own citizens.

An earlier statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed Lee was a British citizen, saying it was "deeply concerned by reports" about the disappearances.

The FCO urged the Hong Kong government to "honour its commitment" to press freedom.

It added that it hoped Chinese authorities would ensure the environment for media and publishers in Hong Kong supported "full and frank reporting".

- 'I feel unsafe' -

Hong Kong was handed back to Beijing by Britain in 1997 and enjoys freedoms unseen on the mainland. Chinese law enforcers have no right to operate in the city.

Police confirmed Tuesday Lee's wife, Sophie Choi, had retracted a report on her husband's disappearance, a move Amnesty said smacked of "intimidation".

"I believe he did it voluntarily, so I cancelled the report," Choi told reporters.

A friend of Lee who volunteers at the book store and did not want to be identified said: "His wife is on the brink of collapse."

He added he too was now afraid.

"I feel unsafe -- I don't know whether the next one will be me," he told reporters.

Amnesty said it was common for Chinese authorities to put pressure on those close to detainees.

"One wonders whether the same sort of intimidation is being used against associates and friends (of the publishers)," said Amnesty International's China researcher William Nee.

Rights groups also questioned the validity of a letter, published by Taiwan's Central News Agency, purportedly faxed to a colleague by Lee on Monday, saying he was well and had reached the mainland using his own means on an "urgent matter".

He said he was "assisting an investigation" but did not elaborate.

Lee's wife has previously said he called her from a number in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen after he went missing.

Police are also probing the disappearances of three other missing employees who were Hong Kong residents.

One is a Swedish national, and embassies in Beijing and Bangkok are investigating his case.

In comments to a lawmakers Tuesday, pro-Beijing legislator Ng Leung-sing accused the five men of smuggling themselves to the mainland to visit prostitutes.

Ng said he had received the information in a message from "a good friend".

 

[Rogue Trader]

....
In comments to a lawmakers Tuesday, pro-Beijing legislator Ng Leung-sing accused the five men of smuggling themselves to the mainland to visit prostitutes.

Ng said he had received the information in a message from "a good friend".

if true this would be the biggest joke of the decade

 

[Vulture]

 

[war is best form of peace]

PRC communists are too kind toward HK rebels and traitors, just show them the beheading videos of the missing persons, more exciting than ISIS. Traditional Chinese beheading like Bao Qing Tian:

The more Beijing waste fucking time to satisfy these HK monkeys the more Western shit they want to eat.

Behead 5000 of them close the book for good no idiots will ask any more questions. Give simple gruesome answers! The more kindly responds leads to more stupid questions they want to ask. The civilized ways are completely wrong and hopelessly fucked up!

 

[tun_dr_m]

https://hk.news.yahoo.com/失蹤-後首現身-短片反駁傳聞-返內地與人無關-李波-勿大做文章-215524969.html

「失蹤」後首現身 短片反駁傳聞 返內地與人無關 李波：勿大做文章
星島日報星島日報 – 2016年1月10日星期日上午5:55

列印

Facebook 馬上成為Yahoo 新聞的Fans
相關內容


檢視相片
檢視相片
檢視相片

(綜合報道)(星島日報報道)銅鑼灣書店股東李波離奇「失蹤」十一日引起各方關注，本報獲獨家消息，李太昨收到丈夫一段視頻和自白書，親自在熒幕前澄清「失蹤」之說：「返內地是個人行為，與他人無關……」更語氣強硬的直指有人藉此事大做文章，呼籲其他人應尊重其選擇和私隱，及不要參與遊行。「失蹤」後首度曝光的李波精神飽滿，他希望藉這段視頻，進一步釋除外界的揣測。

　　李波失蹤案有新進展，李太昨收到丈夫視頻及自白書報平安，並重申事件是個人行為，外間不應就事件大造文章。據悉，李波失蹤引起各方揣測，令他與家人飽受壓力，並對有人組織遊行而感到困惑，並呼籲市民不要參與相關遊行活動。李太稱看過丈夫的視頻後已放下心頭大石。

　　李太收視頻及自白書：放下心頭大石

　　李波妻子昨日收到的丈夫一段長四十六秒的視頻，鏡頭前的李波頭髮整齊，穿着深色格仔恤衫，配上啡黃色格仔背心，一副文人打扮；而且精神飽滿，坐在沙發上，旁有盆栽和茶杯，環境顯得安詳平靜。

　　他在視頻中，首先澄清並非失蹤：「返嚟內地完全是我的個人的行為，是為了解決一些個人事情，與他人無關，我不知道為甚麼有些人為了這件事大做文章。」說時，右手指胸前，又雙手抱胸以示真情對話。

　　抨有人為達目的 令他心力交瘁

　　說到有人大做文章，李波語調提高變得強硬，他指不明白該些人有何目的，想取得何種利益，但所做行為已經嚴重干擾他和家人的日常生活，令他和家人都受到很大壓力，已經心力交瘁。

　　「在這樣情況下，我還怎麼可以回香港呢？」他強調已受到影響，所以未能即時現身解釋事件始末。他以右手握拳，左手張開放在身前，情緒顯得激動要求該些人，要為他和家人着想說：「尊重我的選擇和私隱，不要再在這件事上大做文章了，這才是真正對我的關愛！」李波除向妻子發出視頻外，並傳訊一封自白書，以文字堅定剖白自己的行為，屬個人行動，與視頻內容相若。

　　握拳激說：尊重我選擇和私隱

　　李妻表示，昨午收到視頻和自白書，見丈夫安全，而且精神很好，大為放心。

　　現年六十五歲的李波，與六十一歲妻子蔡嘉蘋（筆名舒非），及一子一女同住，其長子患自閉症。據悉，李妻上月三十一日到北角警署報案稱，李波在上月三十日接獲客人定單，到柴灣倉庫取書後失去聯絡，至晚上她收到李波報平安電話，但未見人，亦聯絡不上。

　　警方將案列作「失蹤人士」處理，由港島總區失蹤人口調查組跟進，並與早前報稱失蹤的書店東主桂民海及三名經營人

　　士呂波、張志平及林榮基的案件，合併調查。

　　自白書內容

　　「我注意到，最近有些人士，因為我的事要組織遊行，對此我十分困惑和不解。

　　我已一再說過，這次回內地完全是我的個人行為，是為了解一些個人事情，與他人無關。我不知道為甚麼有些人為了這件事大做文章。

　　不管你們出於甚麼目的，要想從中得到甚麼利益，你們的行為已經嚴重干擾了我和我家人的日常生活，使我們遭到很大壓力，心力交瘁。這樣的氛圍下，我還怎麼回香港？

　　拜託各位，多點為我和我的家人着想，尊重我的選擇和私隱，不要再在這件事上做文章了，這才是對我真正的關愛。」 李波　2016.1.9

　　視頻內容

　　「返嚟內地完全是我的個人的行為，是為了解決一些個人事情，與他人無關。我不知道為甚麼有些人為了這件事大做文章。

　　不管你們出於甚麼目的，想從中得到甚麼利益，你們的行為已經嚴重干擾了我和我家人的日常生活，使我們遭到很大壓力，心力交瘁。在這樣情況下，我還怎麼可以回香港呢？

　　拜託各位，多些為我和我的家人着想，尊重我的選擇和私隱，不要再在這件事上大做文章了，這才是真正對我的關愛。」

　　要聞

 

[syed putra]

Hong Kong should immediately invade Shenzhen and Guangzhou and turn it into a free trade and information zone. Area where liberty and freedom of thoughts are protected.

 

[Leongsam]

Hongkong can demand whatever it wants but if the motherland shows them the middle finger what will HK do???

 

[tonychat]

Beijing is too kind and civilized and tolerance towards rebellious people. Just execute a whole lot of them in public without trials and show the world how they will deal with such rebels especially those collaborated with the West to stir politics w Beijing.

Show resolve and steel firm ways that nothing anyone can do could shack.

Western craps has absolutely no values and are completely wrong from very fundamental.

Then you must be a PAP low life who such your PAP master dick to earn a salary.

 

[tonychat]

Hongkong can demand whatever it wants but if the motherland shows them the middle finger what will HK do???

true too!!!

the chinks are not at the evolutionary stage of being democratic.. Humans need to have the genes for being democratic... just like sinkies have ball-less and stupid genes.