Hong Kong Bookseller's Disappearance Stokes Fears of Cross-Border Kidnaps by
Mainland Chinese Police
Global Voices, January 3, 2016
https://globalvoices.org/2016/01/03/hong-kong-booksellers-disappearance-stokes-fears-of-cross-border-kidnap-by-mainland-chinese-police/?utm_source=Global+Voices&utm_campaign=0e1b00dae9-Dec+28_2015_Daily_Digest_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_633e82444a-0e1b00dae9-290270321
Hong Kong newspaper, Apple Daily's front page report on the missing
bookseller Lee Bo on January 3, 2016.
2016 brought a dose of chilling news to Hong Kong after yet another local
bookseller was believed kidnapped by mainland Chinese secret police.
Lee Bo, who disappeared December 30 is the fifth bookseller from Causeway
Bay Bookstore that specialised in publishing and selling literature banned
in China to disappear unexplained.
Four other colleagues from the same bookstore disappeared from their
residences in Shenzhen and Thailand respectively in October.
In November, Lee Bo himself had told BBC News that his colleagues were
detained by the Chinese authorities because of their publishing work.
Among the four is Gui Minhai, a China-born Swedish national and the owner of
the publishing house which owns the bookstore.
Gui disappeared from his holiday home in Thailand around mid-October while
he was working on a book detailing Chinese President Xi Jinping's private
life.
At around 10:30pm on December 30, Mr Lee's wife received a phone call from
her husband who spoke in Putonghua instead of his native Cantonese.
Lee told her he was assisting in an investigation and he would not return
home for a period of time.
As indicated in the phone record, the call was made from Shenzhen and his
wife later found out that Lee's "homecoming card"--a travel document for
entering mainland China was still at home--meaning he could not have left
Hong Kong through proper immigration channels.
The Hong Kong authorities later also confirmed that Mr. Lee did not have any
record of having exited the island.
Mr. Lee's wife told local press that her husband was lured by a fake book
order call and went to the warehouse to collect the books.
He went missing after he left with a dozen books. The public believes that
Lee was forcibly taken by mainland Chinese authorities from Hong Kong to
Shenzhen.
Under the One Country Two Systems arrangement, Hong Kong enjoys judicial
independence and Chinese authorities do not have jurisdiction to operate
there without prior approval.
If Mr. Lee was indeed kidnapped by mainland Chinese secret police, the
judicial independence of the city may have been compromised.
On Facebook, netizens were astonished by the first major news item of the
New Year. Columnist Si Hing of non-profit Stand News epitomised public
sentiment
Translation
"I am terrified, because this case has proven that nothing can protect my
personal safety even if I have not broken any law. Hong Kong residents can
be taken away by non-local law enforcers and the government will not protect
you. It will neither protect you in action, nor in words by saying "We won't
allow any unauthorized overseas law enforcers to operate in Hong Kong."
Translation
"I am angry because these five Hong Kong residents are just ordinary people
like you and me. They have not broken any law but their rights have not been
protected. If you think selling banned books are "special cases" or people
selling banned books should be taken away, I can only say "Fk you, why don't
you move to your beloved mainland China."
Translation
:"I feel helpless because apart from expressing my anger on Facebook, I
can't do anything. I don't know who should I ask for help or to whom to file
the complaint. To God Making random calls To the White House Or just
continue to live a normal life and pretend nothing happened."
Translation
"I feel anxious because I may end up the next one taken away. Who would have
thought selling banned books could end up with you being kidnapped to
mainland China Who knows if cursing the Chinese Communist Party can also
cause that It is technically possible to locate people's IP addresses. Every
one of you may end up being taken away. And some of you may just be
vaporized without anyone knowing that you have been taken away."
Since 2014, the mainland Chinese authorities have been cracking down on
publishers of banned books in Hong Kong.
In May 2014, a Hong Kong publisher Yao Wentian was sentenced to 10 years for
smuggling. His publishing house was about to release a dissident-authored
title focused on Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In the same month, two Hong Kong Chinese political magazine publishers Wang
Jianmin and Guo Zhongjiao were prosecuted for illegal distribution of Hong
Kong publications.
As it is likely that all the missing five booksellers are now held in
mainland China, the Hong Kong Journalist Association and the Independent
Writer Association wrote to the Liaison Office of the Central Government
demanding a full explanation
Translation
"1. Explain the whereabouts of the missing five booksellers of the Causeway
Bay Bookstore. Are they in mainland China?
2. If they are [in mainland China], what is the reason [behind their
detention]? How did they end up in mainland China?
3. Does the incident involve the overseas operations of mainland Chinese law
enforcers? What are the legal bases for their operation?
4. How do the mainland Chinese authorities ensure the five access legal
assistance and personal protection?
5. How do the mainland Chinese authorities handle generally the publication
of "banned books on top leaders" in Hong Kong? Have there been any
interventions in the publication of [banned books] in Hong Kong?"
