The suspected abductions have sent shockwaves through Hong Kong publishing circles, where complaints over increasing censorship and pressure from Beijing are common.
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Lawmaker and spoke person involving the case, Albert Ho stated that the city of Hong Kong is shocked and appalled by the disappearances. And he implies he will be staying in mainland China for some time.
“I hope everyone in the world who believes in universal values of freedom and human rights can stand up and speak for this incident to stop the political suppression”, said Ms Chow. The books produced with the company are banned from China’s mainland but can be purchased in Hong Kong.
Secretary for Security, John Lee, said the police would be expanding the scope of its investigation into Lee’s disappearance, although it was not possible to give details about every line of inquiry, broadcaster RTHK reported on Sunday.
“We are urgently investigating with the relevant authorities”, the spokesperson said.
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. And even the central government and the Hong Kong government refused to respond – well, previously – on the whereabouts of these citizens are.
“If mainland [Chinese] law enforcement personnel enforce the law in Hong Kong, this is unacceptable because it breaches the Basic Law”, Leung said, referring to the city’s mini-constitution, in rare comments defending Hong Kong’s autonomy.
‘In the era of the Internet, their impact is not limited to Hong Kong, but also leaks into the mainland, and becomes a genuine problem facing the country, ‘ it said.
Mr Lee is the fifth man linked to a shop selling works critical of China’s government to be reported missing since October.
“Not only are mainland laws inapplicable in Hong Kong, no mainland officials, including law enforcement agencies, can take the law into their own hands in Hong Kong”, said Ho.
Bo’s bookstore, Causeway Bay Books – touted as Hong Kong’s most famous bookstore – is now closed, and letters of support and good wishes cover its locked door.
“If the Hong Kong and Chinese police have not arrested these publishers, they should just come out and say so”.
Mr Leung noted widespread rumours that mainland officers are behind the sudden vanishing of Mr Lee Bo, a shareholder in publisher Mighty Current which puts out salacious and politically sensitive tomes about China’s leaders.
Looking to raise global attention about the current situation in Hong Kong, Agnes Chow Ting, prominent member of the Hong Kong student activist group Scholarism, is speaking out on the curious case of the missing local bookseller. Ho said. “This book has not yet gone to print, but probably it has something to do with this book”.
Hong Kong activists have staged protests outside the Chinese government’s representative office in Hong Kong, demanding to know where the five booksellers are.
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It said such books had begun to circulate across the internal border in mainland China, where political writings are tightly controlled by party censors, “acting as a source of political rumors and causing a certain amount of pernicious impact”. However, under Hong Kong law only the subject of a missing person report can cancel it.
