China has confirmed that a missing Hong Kong-based bookseller, one of five men whose disappearance fueled fears of an erosion of the city’s freedoms, is on the mainland, the Hong Kong government said.
The news would add to fears of pro-democracy lawmakers, activists and some residents who believe mainland authorities are kidnapping critics to try to silence dissent.
Lee Bo (李波), a major shareholder of Causeway Bay Books (銅鑼灣圖書) — a store operated by publishing house Mighty Current (巨流), was last seen at a book warehouse in Hong Kong on Dec. 30 last year.
He was the fifth person connected to the Mighty Current publishing house to go missing in recent months.
Three were in China when they vanished, but the disappearance of Lee from Hong Kong and Mighty Current co-owner Gui Minhai (桂民海) while on vacation Thailand in October last year has raised fears of Chinese authorities operating internationally.
A Hong Kong government spokesman yesterday said Hong Kong police had received information from Chinese authorities that Lee was in China.
The spokesman said the letter was issued by the public security department of Guangdong Province which borders Hong Kong, but it did not specify where the missing man was.
Hong Kong police have written to the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department asking to meet Lee.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) — who has been lambasted in the territory for what critics describe as a weak response to the crisis — yesterday said the government was seeking a meeting with Lee.
“Hopefully we will know more about the case of Mr Lee,” he told reporters.
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