In a four-minute report that involved exclusive interviews with the four, they confessed to selling “unauthorized” books in China via an online platform and evading customs inspections to deliver about 4,000 books to 380 customers since October 2014. Our immigration policy, our system is first and foremost a boundary to make sure that unwanted people can come into Hong Kong, he said.
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Instead, Bo – a dual British and Hong Kong citizen – confessed that he had sneaked into China illegally to avoid raising attention while he assisted police with an investigation of his colleagues.
“I have reflected deeply on what I have done, and I very much regret the illegal book sales I made, along with Gui Minhai”, Lui said.
Gui said he’d altered and obscured the covers of the Hong Kong-printed books with nylon bags to “evade” customs security checks and was singled out by the others as the mastermind.
On February 12, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Lee was “involuntarily removed” from Hong Kong, and accused China of a “serious breach” of the treaty, under which it took control of the city. Lee told them he had gone to the mainland with the assistance of friends, that he was helping with an investigation into Gui, and would return to Hong Kong when the matter was resolved.
Lee said he did not need help from the Hong Kong government but asked police not to disclose where he was staying.
The last missing associate of a Hong Kong publishing company unexpectedly reappeared today (Feb. 29) in an video interview with a group of pro-Beijing news outlets.
Five Hong Kong booksellers missing since last October have appeared in television interviews, with four confessing to running an “illegal” bookselling business, and a fifth, a British passport holder, saying he is willing to sever all ties with the UK.
Hong Kong police are requesting Chinese authorities confirm the details of what Gui and the others said. He resurfaced in January, making a tearful appearance on Chinese state TV to say he surrendered for fleeing the country in violation of the terms of his suspended sentence over a 12-year-old fatal drunken driving case.
Hong Kong daily, the South China Morning Post, reported on Monday that Lam Wing-kei, Lui Por and Cheung Ji-ping, of Causeway Bay Books, could be granted “bail” for “good attitude” while awaiting trial in Chinese jails.
Hong Kong punters will not be able to bet on Chinese Super League matches, the city’s Jockey Club said on Tuesday, hinting at fears over its “transparency” and “integrity”.
Lee said he was “free and safe at the moment” and was assisting in an unspecified investigation into a “person named Gui”.
“Many have sensationalized my British citizenship and have complicated the situation, so I have chose to give up my British citizenship”, Lee said in the interview, according to the Guardian.
China’s foreign ministry, however, has said its law enforcement officials would never do anything illegal, especially not overseas, and called on foreign governments not to interfere in Hong Kong affairs.
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Mr Lee said he hoped the United Kingdom response was based on a “mistaken judgment and mistaken reading of incorrect information”.
