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

bigboss

Alfrescian
Loyal
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.

These Hong Kongites are pure dreamers. Hong Kong belongs to China. What can they do about it? The commies can do what they wish in Hong Kong. Would USA or UK intervene? Not a hoot.
 

Sideswipe

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
the PLA should have liberated Hongkong from the British in 1949, and Beijing will not have this Hongkong identify crisis with the Mainland today. Hongkong will be a small peaceful and prosperous part of the Mainland, not a hotbed of subversion.
 

Asterix

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
the PLA should have liberated Hongkong from the British in 1949, and Beijing will not have this Hongkong identify crisis with the Mainland today. Hongkong will be a small peaceful and prosperous part of the Mainland, not a hotbed of subversion.

Liberate my foot! During the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, many mainland Chinese risked life and limb to get to Hong Kong and be liberated and not the other way round. Subvert my foot! The interests of the ruling elite and those of the nation and people as a whole are not the same. It is patriotic to insist on rule of law and to hell with stupid brainwashed Sinkies!

Watch and learn ....... no need to waste my time with stupid char kway teow lovers ........

[video=youtube;i5QALFSIm38]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5QALFSIm38[/video]
 

Asterix

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Hong Kong is right to worry about the disappearance of bookseller Lee Bo and his associates

Even the justice minister voices concern because at stake is the ‘one country, two systems’ principle and the protection of people holding foreign passports

SCMP Editorial

The case of five missing Hong Kong booksellers involved in publications banned on the mainland is still shrouded in mystery. Nearly two weeks have passed since news of their disappearance made local and international headlines but authorities on both sides of the border are still unable to shed new light on their whereabouts. Meanwhile, disturbing remarks and speculation abound. They do nothing to maintain confidence in the “one country, two systems” principle that is the foundation of governance in Hong Kong. What the public needs are answers and assurances from credible authorities.

The public has yet to be given convincing explanations as to why and how Lee Bo and his associates at Causeway Bay Books have gone missing one after another since late last year. The suggestions range from Lee having returned to the mainland voluntarily to assist in investigations to Lee having been abducted by mainland law enforcers. Such accounts do nothing to clear the air. Worse, they fuel more doubts about the freedoms and civil liberties protected by the Basic Law .

Adding to the sensitivity is the nationality issue. As Lee and another missing colleague hold a British and Swedish passport respectively, the two nations and the European Union have expressed concerns over the case. The United States also weighed in over the weekend. Beijing, however, takes a different view, saying that the two are “first and foremost” Chinese. The row has inevitably turned the spotlight on the wider issue of Chinese holding foreign passports, even though the law says they are not entitled to consular protection in China and Hong Kong.

Sunday’s rally in Hong Kong on the issue reportedly drew more than 3,500 people. This came despite news reports saying Lee’s wife had received a video of her husband trying to clear the air and urging people not to take to the streets. The turnout underlines the growing unease in the local community.

Urging people not to jump to conclusions, the secretary for justice yesterday reiterated that it would be unlawful for officials from other jurisdictions to take law enforcement actions in the city. Pressure is growing on the government to find out whether this has been the case and if so, how it will be followed up to prevent a reoccurrence. The police have already sought assistance from the relevant mainland authorities and are seeking their prompt response. If the call remains unanswered, the government should turn to the central government for clarification. At stake is confidence in the “one country, two systems” model.

http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight...t-worry-about-disappearance-bookseller-lee-bo
 

Falling

Alfrescian
Loyal


Missing Hong Kong bookseller paraded on China state television


AFP
January 18, 2016, 4:00 am

2ea21db5cf00376c37c9268172d91ea932afc2d7-1b9nijh.jpg


Beijing (AFP) - A missing Hong Kong publisher of books critical of Beijing appeared weeping on state television Sunday, saying he had returned to China to surrender to police 11 years after fleeing a fatal drink driving incident.

Gui Minhai, a Swedish national and co-owner of publisher Mighty Current, failed to return from a holiday in Thailand in October, according to local media, since when a further four employees of the company have gone missing.

The disappearances are the latest incidents to fuel growing unease in Hong Kong over the erosion of freedoms in the city, with fears that the five have been detained by Chinese authorities because of the work they published.

In the interview broadcast on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Gui said he fled the mainland after he was convicted of killing a college student in drink driving incident, despite only being sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence.

"I am taking my legal responsibilities, and am willing to accept any punishment," he said.

During the interview, which took place in a detention centre, Gui sobbed and apologised to the family of the dead student.

Neither Gui nor the accompanying report on CCTV explained how he ended up in police custody in China after last being seen in Thailand.

Sweden has summoned the Chinese and Thai ambassadors and Swedish authorities are reportedly investigating Gui's disappearance. But despite the widespread alarm in the case, Gui urged Stockholm not to intervene.

"Although I now hold the Swedish citizenship, deep down I still think of myself as a Chinese. My roots are in China," he said in the interview. "I hope the Swedish authorities would respect my personal choices, my rights and my privacy, and allow myself to deal with my own issues."

He added: "This is my due responsibility. I do not want anyone or any institution to be involved or get in the way of my returning, nor do I want any malicious media hype."

But Gui's explanation for his detention was immediately met with scepticism by his own daughter, rights groups and Hong Kong media.

Gui's daughter, known only as Angela, said it was not possible he had surrendered voluntarily when quoted by Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily. She said she hoped to visit her father soon.

Hong Kong was handed back to China by Britain in 1997 under a "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement. It enjoys liberties not seen on the mainland, including freedom of the press and publication.

The other missing employees include the publishing company's general manager Lui Bo, staff member Cheung Jiping, and bookstore manager Lam Wing-kei, all of whom disappeared in southern China in October.

The latest to vanish was Lee Bo, 65, last seen in Hong Kong on December 30.

Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International's East Asia regional director, tweeted: "A very elaborate script, and a skillful mix of truths, half-truths and outright lies."



 

Falling

Alfrescian
Loyal

Missing Hong Kong bookseller in China to answer 11 year-old conviction - state media


Reuters
January 18, 2016, 2:30 am

2016_01_17t153002z_1_lynxnpec0g0f8_rtroptp_2_hongkong_publisher_bookshops-1b9nd3a.jpg


Books on China politics and senior leaders are displayed inside a bookstore in Hong Kong, China January 8, 2016. Picture taken January 8, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Swedish bookseller whose mysterious disappearance has sparked fears he may have been taken by Chinese agents said he had voluntarily turned himself into the authorities for a drink-driving accident that resulted in a death 11 years ago.

Gui Minhai, who vanished from his apartment in Thailand last October, voluntarily returned to China to answer a conviction from 2004 for killing a student, state media said on Sunday.

"I am returning to surrender by personal choice, it has nothing to do with anyone," Gui, looking distraught, said in a China Central Television broadcast. "This is a personal responsibility that I ought to bear."

Gui, a naturalized Swedish citizen, is one of five members to have gone missing from of a Hong Kong bookstore that specialises in selling gossipy political books on China's Communist Party leaders.

The disappearances and China's silence have prompted fears that mainland Chinese authorities may be using shadowy tactics that erode the "one country, two systems" formula under which Hong Kong has been governed since its return to China from British rule in 1997.

In recent years, state media has publicised a string of what is presented as confessions made by high-profile suspects. Critics say these accounts deprive the accused of the right to a fair trial.

Earlier this month, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said it had raised Gui's case with the Chinese ambassador to Stockholm.

It was not possible to contact Gui and it remains unclear whether he has a lawyer.

DAUGHTER BELIEVES GUI ABDUCTED

Gui's daughter, Angela, who is based in Britain, said she could not confirm what was being reported but that she still believed her father had been abducted and his detention was related to his work.

Gui Minhai cautioned in the report "any individual or organization" against intervening or "engaging in malacious speculation."

His confession was broadcast Sunday night on China Central Television. The official Xinhua News Agency published a separate report.

Gui, who holds a Swedish passport, "surrendered to public security organs" in October, Xinhua said, without providing details about his surrender or transport from Thailand.

Gui was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, after killing a female student in the coastal city of Ningbo while driving drunk, the report said.

Gui fled in August 2006 and his two-year probation was revoked. He is now suspected of other crimes, the report said.

"Although I have Swedish citizenship, I truly feel I'm Chinese, my roots are still in China. So I hope that Sweden will respect my personal choice, respect my rights and privacy and let me solve my own problems," Gui said.

The five missing booksellers include Lee Bo, a British passport holder who disappeared from Hong Kong at the end of last month.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Jan 5 that Lee is "first and foremost a Chinese citizen" and called on others not to make "groundless accusations" on the case.

In a handwritten note dated January 3 and purportedly written and signed by Lee, photos of which were widely circulated on social and local media but couldn't be verified by Reuters, Lee wrote that he had travelled back to China in order to assist with an unspecified "investigation".

The Xinhua report said that "related persons" are cooperating with the investigation, but didn't provide details of whereabout or status of the other missing persons.

(Reporting By Matthew Miller and Sui-Lee Wee; Additional reporting by Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong)
 

Asterix

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Footage filmed in the apartment complex in Thailand that was home to the Hong Kong publisher Gui Minhai, who disappeared several weeks ago, shows his white car arriving home after a trip buying groceries on the day he vanished. A man in a striped T-shirt can be seen lingering by the complex’s gate and watching the car. Staff at the apartment say the man later entered Gui’s vehicle before the pair drove away

[video=youtube;vL-XrCmDWh0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL-XrCmDWh0[/video]

"Confession" PAP style!

[video=youtube;QxxY73pY6QE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxxY73pY6QE[/video]
 

Falling

Alfrescian
Loyal


Why the case of the Hong Kong booksellers is more of a worry than China’s market woes

Tom Plate says while the economy will surely recover, the same cannot be said of ‘one country, two systems’ unless Beijing moves to clear up the mystery

PUBLISHED : Monday, 18 January, 2016, 5:03pm
UPDATED : Monday, 18 January, 2016, 5:35pm
Tom Plate

8f81efc6-bdc0-11e5-9503-d84cbca18933_486x.jpg


Beijing officials need to clean up this mystery, and ensure “one country, two systems” is seen as an example of very smart international politics.Overall, the unfolding drama of China – as viewed on this side of the Pacific, in sunny Los Angeles – has, in the past week or so, seen the vigour of its vim dimmed somewhat.

My worry is not so much the mayhem of the markets and the attendant gangling neuroticism of the gigantic mainland economy. While reports in the world media have been fulsome with negative detail, the fact is that an expanding, multifaceted economy such as China’s was never going to unfold as daintily as a blooming rose or as harmoniously as a Mozart symphony. It was always going to jerk this way and that – imagine an especially neurotic octopus suddenly with even with more legs than normal and a central brain system constantly struggling just to keep count of them all.

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An expanding, multifaceted economy such as China’s was never going to unfold as daintily as a blooming rose. Photo: AP

Worry not excessively. China now fields smarty-pants economists as cunning and well schooled as any, anywhere. They will figure a way out, over time, especially if their political masters permit them enough time to do so and display the political guts to back them up. At the end of the day, politics does tend to trump the economists. Consider the highly political – and bizarre – story of the Causeway Bay bookstore and its missing team, including the owner. This macabre mystery rattles many nerves even more than the roiling markets.

READ MORE: Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung hints there’s little he can do about detained bookseller – but Stockholm demands more ‘openness’

Balance and perspective must be maintained until enough verifiable facts are out, and right now there are not many. Over the weekend one of the five, in Thailand, outed himself as a fugitive from mainland criminal justice and turned himself in. But what about the other four in the bookstore gang of five? That’s the Hong Kong worry.

1cb13966-bd8e-11e5-9503-d84cbca18933_486x.jpg


A screen grab from CCTV shows one of the missing booksellers, Gui Minhai, who has allegedly turned himself in to mainland authorities over a hit-and-run accident more than a decade ago. Photo: SCMP Pictures

From China’s hypersensitive viewpoint, “one country, two systems” goes out the window if and when Hong Kong morphs into a base of subversion on its southern flank. If President Xi Jinping ’s (習近平) internal enemies (presumably growing in number and intensity with every new corruption crackdown) are using Hong Kong to spread tawdry and demeaning rumours in order to lower the angelic glow around the boss, mainland security people will want to know every who and all the how. Until his rocked economy regains its footing, Xi might want to dial down the intensity of the ethical evangelicalism. It is not for show that Xi travels with a noticeably large security detail wherever he goes.
Until now, it has seemed unthinkable that the Xi government would regard ‘one country, two systems’ as anything other than canonical

Beijing does not wholly trust Hong Kong. Note that Article 23 of the mutually agreed Basic Law says: “The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People’s Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organisations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organisations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organisations or bodies.” Beijing, for its part, takes notice of the fact that, almost two decades after the historic handover, Hong Kong has not done this.

On the other hand, if the allegedly subversive bookstore gang, in whole or part, was spirited or somehow lured over the border by nefarious methods, as many in characteristically suspicious Hong Kong suspect, then this is of course a serious violation of the spirit of “one country, two systems”. Although perhaps not on the same elevated philosophical shelf as the Magna Carta, “one country, two systems” has a lot going for it; for sheer practical ingenuity, it is often underestimated. It’s also a trademark political legacy of Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), who, though he did not invent the idea, was surely its driving, principal proponent. [A Hong Kong police officer stands outside the central government’s liaison office. The case of the missing booksellers has aroused much political unease in the special administrative region. Photo: AFP] A Hong Kong police officer stands outside the central government’s liaison office. The case of the missing booksellers has aroused much political unease in the special administrative region. Photo: AFP

Until now, it has seemed unthinkable that the Xi government would regard “one country, two systems” as anything other than canonical. So, was the bookstore bust an instance of the “Mao” Xi at clandestine work behind the scenes; or, instead, of just some “Mission Ridiculous”, Watergate-style bozo operation designed to ingratiate provincial security agents with higher-ups? The bookstore’s shelves stocked tabloidian tomes of Clintonesque-type flings by Chinese VIPs .

At this writing, technically, based on the scant facts that exist, no law has been broken. Still, Beijing should clean up this mystery, make an example of the “Mission Ridiculous” boys (if such is the true story), and work better with Hong Kong on the vital job of making “one country, two systems” an exemplar of very smart 21st-century international politics. But Hongkongers have to accept reality: Beijing is sovereign. A famous Chinese saying applies here: “However ugly your parents are, they are still your parents.” [The election of Tsai Ing-wen, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, as Taiwan’s president is not the best news for any unification timetable. Photo: AFP] The election of Tsai Ing-wen, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, as Taiwan’s president is not the best news for any unification timetable. Photo: AFP

But Beijing cannot behave as the beastly bull in the greater China shop, especially if it wants smooth sailing in Hong Kong and prays, some day, for the historic mainland docking by Taiwan. One notes that the island’s pro-independence political party just nailed a smashing victory to regain power with the island’s first female president. This is not the best news for any unification timetable. Unless the PRC plans an invasion, then endless patience for Taiwan as well as Hong Kong (as prickly as the wonderful territory can be) remains the smart policy approach. Exercising the force option would set back China more than any number of market corrections – and launch a thousand unfriendly new books, on sale almost everywhere.

Columnist Tom Plate, Loyola Marymount University’s Distinguished Scholar of Asian and Pacific Studies, is the author of the “Giants of Asia” series



 

Asterix

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
As PAP obtains more power, camouflage becomes less necessary
It’s time for Hong Kong to start planning for life after 2047

Hong Kong was supposed to live happily ever after 1997. It used to be called “a city living on borrowed time.” Now it is living on borrowed time again as the need to plan for the end of the Basic Law in 2047 looms large. Important recent events offer a glimpse of what is in store.

So far, despite the partially explained disappearance of five booksellers, not only has the rule of law continued to function in Hong Kong, but no US aircraft carriers have showed up in Victoria Harbour. It is business as usual. “Rendition with Chinese characteristics” has not led to significant international reaction beyond some press coverage.

Like all gambits, the arrests either initially appear as a reckless move or bold strategy by the Chinese government. Now that they have determined that Hong Kong’s government and business establishment will not speak out, take action or protest a major violation of the Basic Law it opens possibilities about how to shape Hong Kong’s economy and political system after 2047.

Whatever statute will replace the Basic Law in 2047, proposals and high certainty should be agreed and established around 2020 in order to provide continuity for the business sector, society and economy. Local banks need certainty on how they will issue or refinance mortgages before 2047. So far, after 2047, without any agreement in place, they intend to issue rolling one-year mortgages. I am not aware of any bank currently issuing mortgages whose terms extend beyond 2047.

“Rule of law” is often quoted as Hong Kong’s fixed fortification– its last line of usefulness to China as an inflated property market has driven out everything else. It is becoming a cliché as China has developed and carved out its own position in international markets. Foreign companies seek to enter an increasingly important domestic Chinese market and are willing to operate with Chinese laws.

China’s growing demand for more sophisticated financial services makes it eventually imperative to locate a foreign bank’s headquarters in Beijing or Shanghai and not Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s rule of law is certainly important, but not absolutely essential for financial services. It is unlikely that China can fully reconcile its Communist Party-dominated legal system with a Western-style, independent judiciary. But, China’s vast banking market and the gradual opening of its capital account are attractive enough to compel Western banks to find a way to work within China’s shortcomings.

Hong Kong has a reliable judiciary, but this only means that banks will maintain a minor presence in Hong Kong in order to maintain a legal entity. China’s legal system is ill suited for litigating complex financial transactions, so this will probably require a large, dedicated, legal and compliance team based in Shanghai or Beijing.

Most bankers are reluctant to admit that if certain communications regarding a financial transaction with a mainland Chinese counterparty need to be kept confidential it cannot be transmitted over voice, video, messaging or email platforms. This delicate situation applies to many banking areas like private wealth management and corporate finance. Travelling is no substitute for the convenience of a local office.

China is exhibiting a level of confidence in its international affairs – the rapid internationalisation of the yuan, entry into the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights, establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank – unprecedented in its history. It reduces Beijing’s dependence on Hong Kong’s flawed political system and intellectual shortcomings.

The bookseller incident places Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing supporters and the business establishment in a terribly compromised position. But, Beijing’s allies represent a small sacrifice in order consolidate power.

Hong Kong has crippled itself with almost 20 years of reckless pro-business governments. The business establishment can’t evolve beyond its own self-interested property and business cartels. Its grotesque ossification and inability to reform and adapt resulted in the Occupy protest and is evidenced in a political talent pool of leaders that is dwindling and unpopular.

The resulting cynicism threatens to destabilise Hong Kong. Rather than reform, Hong Kong ‘s establishment has thrown breadcrumbs at young people in the form of feel good conferences on how to be an entrepreneur and aimless investment funds. Complete economic and political integration into China may be its only salvation.

Power always reveals. As China obtains more power, camouflage becomes less necessary. The curtain begins to rise. The revealing begins. Hong Kong has no convictions for which its elite or citizens would be willing to stake their lives.

Peter Guy is a financial writer and former international banker

http://www.scmp.com/business/articl...-more-power-camouflage-becomes-less-necessary
 
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