Protesters try to stick photos of missing booksellers, one of which shows Gui Minhai (left) during a protest outside the Liaison of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong
Chinese police are investigating a detained Hong Kong bookseller for allegedly selling books by mail illegally in mainland China, an official Chinese newspaper said yesterday, the latest twist in a case that has raised concerns over erosion of civil rights in Hong Kong.
The Communist Party newspaper Global Times said that Gui Minhai had admitted to selling more than 4,000 books by mail despite knowing they had not been approved by China’s publications authority.
Gui, who holds Swedish citizenship, was one of four people connected with Hong Kong’s Mighty Current publishing house who went missing in October. He resurfaced in January, making a tearful appearance on Chinese state TV to say he surrendered for fleeing the country in violation of the terms of his suspended sentence over a 12-year-old fatal drunken driving case.
Chinese authorities say three others connected with Mighty Current and its retail outlet, Causeway Bay Bookshop, have been detained for an investigation into unspecified criminal activity. The three others — Lui Por, Cheung Chi Ping and Lam Wing Kee — are shareholders or employees of the company.
Gui disappeared from his vacation home in Pattaya, Thailand, while the three others went missing in mainland China.
Hong Kong police also said they received a handwritten letter from a fifth missing person, editor Lee Bo, in which he purportedly rejected a request to meet with them.
Lee, a British citizen, disappeared on Dec. 30, and many suspect he was abducted by mainland Chinese security agents operating in Hong Kong, which would be a breach of the “one country, two systems” principle Beijing agreed to when it took control of the city from Britain in 1997.
The European Parliament has called for the five to be immediately released, joining British, American and Swedish officials who have raised concern about the case.
Mighty Current’s books on political scandals and intrigue involving China’s communist leaders are popular with mainland Chinese visitors to Hong Kong, despite their being banned on the mainland. AP
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