Missing booksellers have Hong Kong leader ‘highly concerned’

The other booksellers who have also gone missing are Gui Minhai, shareholder of Mighty Current, the publishing house that owns the bookstore; publishing house general manager Lui Bo and business manager Cheung Jiping; as well as bookstore manager Lam Wing-kei.

The bookstore, established in 1994, was said to be popular among tourists from mainland China as a source of political materials banned across the border, the paper said.

A letter allegedly written by Lee Bo, co-owner of a Hong Kong bookstore who went missing on December 30, has been published by Taiwanese official media.

According to the Post, Hong Kong police have said they will continue to investigate Lee’s whereabouts, despite the fact that his wife has withdrawn her report of his disappearance. Hong Kong’s legal system is based on British law.

“It is unacceptable if mainland legal agencies enforced law in Hong Kong as it is against the Basic Law“, he added.

“No other law enforcement agencies outside of Hong Kong have such authority”, Leung, who has often been accused of kowtowing to Beijing, told reporters. 4 different people linked to the company went missing in October, still they have been last seen both in mainland China or Thailand.

Following his disappearance, Lee sent a fax to a colleague, claiming he had traveled to China “by my own means, to cooperate with an investigation carried out by relevant department”, and said he was “good” and all was “normal”.

Chinese police have no right to operate in Hong Kong, its leader CY Leung has said, amid fears a local bookseller has been detained by mainland authorities.

Mrs Lee’s response reflects a typical assumption of Hongkongers – that you could criticise the Communist Party as long as you are in Hong Kong.

Lee’s wife told Hong Kong’s Cable TV that her husband had called her from neighboring Shenzhen the night he disappeared, speaking Mandarin rather than the couple’s native tongue, Cantonese.

“It’s bad news, I have to say”.

“Hong Kong tops the most favorite overseas shopping destinations”, Yan said.

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.

“This could happen to anybody”, he said.

A spokesperson for the British embassy in Beijing said its officials were aware of reports that one of those reported missing may be a British passport holder.

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.

Acting Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu said yesterday a Lee family member reported him missing on Friday.

ICBC fluctuated in Hong Kong and the mainland on Tuesday, as the Shanghai Composite whipsawed between gains and losses.

It is believed the publishing company behind the bookstore was about to launch a book about the former love life of President Xi Jinping.

Other lawmakers including Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing former security chief Regina Ip have urged the government to investigate.

On Sunday, Claudia Mo, an outspoken Hong Kong legislator, described the incident as “a huge attack on Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” [model]” which was introduced following the colony’s return to Chinese control in 1997.

“If the central government arrest a Hong Kong resident and [take them] back to mainland China, this is a threat to our freedom of press and also freedom of speech”.