Missing HK bookseller says in video China trip voluntary

A protester holds a placard during a protest against the disappearances of booksellers yesterday in Hong Kong

A Hong Kong bookseller whose disappearance has inflamed concerns about growing Chinese interference in the city told his wife in a video message that he traveled to the mainland on his own accord, the Sing Tao newspaper reported.
Lee Bo – one of five missing people who are affiliated with a company that published and sold books critical of the ruling Communist Party – said in a 46-second recording received Saturday that his decision to cross the border was a personal one, the paper reported, citing an interview with his wife. Lee, who also sent a letter, asked people to respect his privacy and not join a planned protest over the case, the newspaper said yesterday.
Lee’s disappearance, which was reported by his wife Jan. 1, has reignited debate about the Communist Party’s influence in Hong Kong, a former British colony that enjoys independent courts and guaranteed freedom of expression under the terms of its return to China. Fears of encroachment under Chinese President Xi Jinping sparked the student-led democracy protests that paralyzed parts of the city for months in 2014.
The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China stage a rally yesterday demanding answers from the mainland on the disappearance of Lee and four of his colleagues.
Lee’s case has drawn particular interest because he was last seen in Hong Kong, where mainland police don’t have jurisdiction under the so-called One Country, Two Systems framework.
While mainland authorities haven’t commented, the disappearances prompted Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to express concern and reaffirm that only local authorities could enforce the law. Hong Kong police are investigating and have not disclosed if mainland authorities have told them about the case.
Lee’s bookstore, Causeway Bay Books, was popular among tourists from China as a source of often salacious books, banned on the mainland, about the country’s elite. He was last seen leaving a warehouse on Hong Kong Island used by the company.
Lee has made repeated contact with associates in Hong Kong since his disappearance. Taiwan’s Central News Agency last Monday published a handwritten letter said to be faxed from Lee to a bookstore colleague. In it, he said he took his “own way” to China to assist in an investigation that might take some time. Lee’s wife approached local police on Monday and withdrew a request for help, but Hong Kong police have continued their investigation.
The assertion that Lee would travel to the mainland on his own conflicts with his remarks to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post before his disappearance. In an interview about his missing colleagues, he said he wasn’t worried about his own safety because he had avoided traveling to the mainland for many years, the newspaper reported on Thursday.
Janet Ong, Bloomberg

thousands march in hk

According to several media reports, thousands in Hong Kong have rallied against the disappearance of the five Hong Kong booksellers. The BBC described how protesters chanted “say no to political kidnapping” while marching to the offices of China’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong.