One of five “missing” Hong Kong booksellers who was detained in mainland China returned to the territory on Friday and met police, the Hong Kong government said, in a case that has provoked fears of increasing Chinese interference in the semi-autonomous region.
Lui Bo (呂波), who had been missing since October last year, was among three booksellers who Hong Kong police earlier this week said would be released on bail.
“Police met with Lui Por [sic], who returned to Hong Kong from the mainland, this morning,” a brief government statement released late on Friday said.
Photo: EPA
“Lui requested to have his missing-persons case closed and expressed that there was no need for assistance from the Hong Kong government or police,” it said, adding he refused to provide any more information.
Hong Kong police had said that Lui and his counterparts, Cheung Chi Ping (張志平) and Lam Wing-kei (林榮基), would all be released on bail.
However, police on Friday were not able to immediately provide information about Lam and Cheung when contacted by reporters.
An unnamed source quoted by the South China Morning Post said Lui was not handed over to the city’s police by mainland authorities.
Instead, Hong Kong police were sent to meet Lui at his Hong Kong home, the newspaper said.
“He told officers that he was safe and he did not need any assistance from the police,” the source said.
The booksellers from Mighty Current (巨流) publishing house, known for its salacious titles critical of Beijing, went missing last year, only to turn up in mainland China. One who apparently disappeared from Hong Kong, Lee Bo (李波), appeared on television on Monday and insisted he had not been abducted by mainland authorities.
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