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Vol. 80/No. 25 July 11, 2016
Hong Kong rally protests political kidnapping
TMHK/Jason Leung
Denouncing his eight-month detention by Beijing, Lam Wing-kee, center in
cap, leads thousands of demonstrators, chanting “Protest political
kidnappings,” to the Chinese government’s liason office in Hong Kong
June 18. Two days earlier he had made the story of his abduction public
at a press conference.
Lam was employed by Mighty Current Media and distributed books critical
of the Chinese leaders to customers from China. The books are banned by
Beijing. Lam told reporters that he was kidnapped, blindfolded and
handcuffed while crossing the border to Shenzhen, China, Oct. 24. The
next day he was taken on a 13-hour train ride to Ningbo near Shanghai,
where he was held in solitary confinement for five months before being
transferred to Shaoguan to work in a library.
On June 14, Lam was allowed to go to Hong Kong for one day on condition
he retrieve the names of his customers and come back to China. But Lam
decided to stay and go public. Beijing disputes his version of events
surrounding his disappearance and that of four other booksellers.
Protesters argue that the trampling of Lam’s democratic rights also
violates the autonomy guaranteed to Hong Kong at its reunification with
China in 1997.
— EMMA JOHNSON
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