Four Hong Kong publishers, known for publishing books critical of the Chinese regime and the Chinese political elite, have been reported as missing, prompting human rights groups to issue statements expressing their concerns.
The four missing publishers all worked for Sage Communications – a publisher and bookshop known for producing “sensationalistic” accounts of the political and private lives of top Chinese leaders and officials.
Two employees of the publishing group, Lu Bo and Zhang Zhiping, have not been seen since they went to visit family members on the mainland. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Lin Ronji, the manager of Sage Bookshop, are not known, according to Radio Free Asia.
Gui Haiming, the Swedish owner of Sage Communications, has not been heard from since he departed to Thailand to visit his holiday home.
Maya Wang, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Hong Kong, said that it is not uncommon for the authorities of neighboring Asian countries to cooperate with mainland China when it comes to arrests and detentions. Myanmar and Thailand are believed to have cooperated on a number of occasions, such as in the case of Dong Guangping, who was arrested in Thailand while applying for political asylum.
With regard to the four missing publishers, Wang said: “They all live in Hong Kong and we are very concerned about [them].”
According to The Guardian, an anonymous member of the publishing industry told the newspaper that publishing in Hong Kong has become more challenging since the handover.
“We used to be fine in Hong Kong. Now we get menacing calls from people claiming to be mainland authorities, saying we have to stop publication. Self-
censorship is becoming rampant,” the source said.
The source also said that “Sage Communications [has] long been hated by the princelings, absolutely hated, because their books are so sensationalistic. They [Sage Communications] have been going to former mistresses asking them to write autobiographies, and in many cases they have also published made-up life stories of prominent politicians […] they have been operating for years with no problems, but now the bookstore is getting into trouble.” Staff reporter
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