Lee Bo, one of the Hong Kong book publishers who went missing, has returned home to Hong Kong.
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The Hong Kong government said in a statement that Lee had been “handed over” to immigration officials at the border Thursday afternoon.
HONG KONG Hong Kong residents and journalists believe the state of press freedom deteriorated in the city for a second straight year in 2015, a survey by a media group showed, apparently a reflection of general unease in the city about mainland Chinese control. “My feeling is that, as a Hong Kong person, Hong Kong’s development must rely on China”, he said. Lee, who holds British citizenship, and Gui Minhai, a Swedish national, both subsequently appeared on Chinese television to say that they had chosen to return to China voluntarily to assist the Chinese authorities with an investigation.
Lee had also requested for the cancellation of his missing person case and that he did not require assistance from the Hong Kong government or police.
The five from Hong Kong’s Mighty Current publishing house, known for its salacious titles critical of Beijing, disappeared previous year, only to turn up in mainland China.
“I feel there is a possibility that I may need to return to the mainland multiple times to assist in the investigation”.
Lee told police that he had been assisted by unspecified “friends” in getting into China and hadn’t been “kidnapped”, according to the statement.
As he crossed the border into Hong Kong, Lee was interviewed by Phoenix TV, thepaper.cn and Sing Tao Daily. “There are still people in Hong Kong who are doing that, and I hope they will no longer do that”.
“The fact of the matter is that he has not really been fully released… he needs to report back to China”, he said.
China expert and Chinese University of Hong Kong professor Willy Lam said he believed a condition of Lee’s release would be that he did not “spill the beans about the circumstances of his abduction to China”.
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Chinese authorities have declined to clarify key details of the disappearances and investigation into Gui, but said law enforcement officials would never do anything illegal, especially not overseas.
