Missing Hong Kong bookseller Lee Bo: ‘I wasn’t abducted’ | CNN

Missing Hong Kong bookseller Lee Bo: ‘I wasn’t abducted’

Katie Hunt
By Katie Hunt, CNN
3 minute read
Updated 4:37 AM EST, Tue March 1, 2016
Lee Bo is a major shareholder in Causeway Bay Books, which is owned by Mighty Current. He disappeared from Hong Kong at the end of the Decembe. In a television interview on February 29, he said he had sneaked across the border to mainland China to help assist in an investigation.
Video Ad Feedback
Missing Hong Kong bookseller: 'I wasn't abducted'
03:17 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

Missing bookseller Lee Bo appears in television interview

He insists he wasn't abducted from Hong Kong

Four of his colleagues admit to illegal book trading

Hong Kong CNN  — 

Missing Hong Kong bookseller Lee Bo made an unexpected appearance in a Chinese television interview Monday, insisting he hadn’t been abducted from the former British territory.

His case, which came after the disappearance of four of his colleagues, sparked outrage in Hong Kong and internationally over fears he was taken against his will by Beijing authorities in December. China has repeatedly said its officials wouldn’t do anything illegal.

All five men were involved with publisher Mighty Current and its shop Causeway Bay Books, which sold gossipy titles about China’s elite.

In a video interview with Phoenix Television, news website thepaper.cn and other news outlets, Lee said he went to China to assist police with an investigation and said he was free to return once the investigation had finished.

“It was my personal act. I have never ‘been kidnapped’ or ‘disappeared,’ nor have I been coerced or bribed. I think the theory of me ‘being kidnapped’ or ‘disappeared’ was completely created out of thin air with an ulterior motive.”

Asked why he would travel to China in secret without using official travel documents, Lee said he didn’t want others to know he was going help police investigate his colleagues.

Lee, a British passport holder, also said he hadn’t sought assistance from Britain and had decided to give up his right to residency. He said he thought of himself as a Hong Konger and Chinese.

“I haven’t lived in the UK for the past 20 years, neither have I enjoyed any rights or benefits other British citizens hold. My daughter is currently studying in the UK and her tuition is paid in accordance with international standards,” he said.

It was not clear whether Lee was speaking under duress, though some commentators believe this was likely.

Five Hong Kong residents linked to controversial local publisher Mighty Current and Causeway Bay Books went missing in late 2015 only to reappear months later in Chinese custody. Lam Wing-Kee, top center, resurfaced in Hong Kong on June 16, 2016 after an 8-month absence, saying he had been abducted into the mainland.
Five Hong Kong residents linked to controversial local publisher Mighty Current and Causeway Bay Books went missing in late 2015 only to reappear months later in Chinese custody. Lam Wing-Kee, top center, resurfaced in Hong Kong on June 16, 2016 after an 8-month absence, saying he had been abducted into the mainland.
Reuters/ thepaper.cn
Lee Bo is a major shareholder in Causeway Bay Books, which is owned by Mighty Current, and disappeared from Hong Kong at the end of the December. He is a British passport holder. In a television interview aired February 29, he said he had sneaked across the border to mainland China to help assist in an investigation. Lee returned home late March after a three-month absence, according to Hong Kong's government.
Lee Bo is a major shareholder in Causeway Bay Books, which is owned by Mighty Current, and disappeared from Hong Kong at the end of the December. He is a British passport holder. In a television interview aired February 29, he said he had sneaked across the border to mainland China to help assist in an investigation. Lee returned home late March after a three-month absence, according to Hong Kong's government.
thepaper.cn
Gui Minhai, the owner of Hong Kong publisher Mighty Current, is a Swedish passport holder. He was last seen in Thailand on October 17, driving out of a condominium complex in the resort town of Pattaya, where he owns an apartment. Thai police told CNN they have no record of Gui leaving the country. Three months later, Gui appeared weeping on state television in China. He claimed he returned to the country of his birth to turn himself in to police for breaking parole after a drunk driving accident thirteen years ago. His daughter Angela Gui testified before the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China in May about the alleged abduction of her father from his home in Thailand. In her first broadcast interview on June 16, 2016, UK-based Angela told CNN that she has received some messages and phone calls from her father in which he said she should keep quiet about his plight, but she had chosen to speak out. "I just hope they know they've overstepped a boundary. What they need to do is to release my father."
Gui Minhai, the owner of Hong Kong publisher Mighty Current, is a Swedish passport holder. He was last seen in Thailand on October 17, driving out of a condominium complex in the resort town of Pattaya, where he owns an apartment. Thai police told CNN they have no record of Gui leaving the country. Three months later, Gui appeared weeping on state television in China. He claimed he returned to the country of his birth to turn himself in to police for breaking parole after a drunk driving accident thirteen years ago. His daughter Angela Gui testified before the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China in May about the alleged abduction of her father from his home in Thailand. In her first broadcast interview on June 16, 2016, UK-based Angela told CNN that she has received some messages and phone calls from her father in which he said she should keep quiet about his plight, but she had chosen to speak out. "I just hope they know they've overstepped a boundary. What they need to do is to release my father."
Reuters
Lam Wing-Kee, manager of Causeway Bay Books, went missing in Octber last year while in China.<strong> </strong>A statement from the Hong Kong government on February 4 said Lam, along with colleagues Lui Por and Cheung Chi Ping, was under investigation and being held by police in Guangdong province. In an interview aired February 28, Lam, Lui, Cheung and Gui admitted to illegal book trading. Lam reappeared on June 16, 2016 in Hong Kong and claimed he had been kidnapped into mainland China by "special forces" at a press conference.
Lam Wing-Kee, manager of Causeway Bay Books, went missing in Octber last year while in China. A statement from the Hong Kong government on February 4 said Lam, along with colleagues Lui Por and Cheung Chi Ping, was under investigation and being held by police in Guangdong province. In an interview aired February 28, Lam, Lui, Cheung and Gui admitted to illegal book trading. Lam reappeared on June 16, 2016 in Hong Kong and claimed he had been kidnapped into mainland China by "special forces" at a press conference.
Reuters
Cheung Chi Ping is the business manager of Mighty Current. China's foreign ministry spokesperson said that Cheung and his colleagues "admitted their crimes while being interviewed on television." Hong Kong police said he returned to Hong Kong March 6, refused police assistance and declined to disclose any details.
Cheung Chi Ping is the business manager of Mighty Current. China's foreign ministry spokesperson said that Cheung and his colleagues "admitted their crimes while being interviewed on television." Hong Kong police said he returned to Hong Kong March 6, refused police assistance and declined to disclose any details.
Reuters
Lui Por is the general manager of Mighty Current. Like the others, he confessed to "illegal book trading" in the televised interview. It's not clear whether they were speaking under duress. Hong Kong police said Lui returned to Hong Kong March 4.
Lui Por is the general manager of Mighty Current. Like the others, he confessed to "illegal book trading" in the televised interview. It's not clear whether they were speaking under duress. Hong Kong police said Lui returned to Hong Kong March 4.
Reuters
Hong Kong's missing booksellers

China’s crackdown on dissent goes global

“There is every reason to suspect he spoke under duress,” said Willy Lam, adjunct professor at the Center for Chinese Studies, at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

‘Illegal book trading’

Lee’s appearance came after his associates appeared on television Sunday admitting to “illegal book trading” in China.

The four included Gui Minhai, the owner of Hong Kong publisher Mighty Current.

His fellow booksellers, Lui Por, Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kee, described him as the ringleader of the group. They said he ordered them to send thousands of “unauthorized” books to mainland China.

Previously missing, Hong Kong bookseller, Gui Minhai appears on Chinese state television January 17, 2016 confessing to his involvement in a fatal car accident in Ningbo 12 years prior.
Previously missing, Hong Kong bookseller, Gui Minhai appears on Chinese state television January 17, 2016 confessing to his involvement in a fatal car accident in Ningbo 12 years prior.
CCTV
video

Related video Was Gui Minhai's TV confession made under duress?

“We discussed several times how we could avoid inspection by Chinese officials, such as changing the book covers and using dark nylon bags to carry books so that we could get away with X-ray checks at security checks,” said Gui.

It isn’t clear if Gui or the others were coerced into making their statements. Gui, who appeared on Chinese television in January confessing to a hit-and-run incident, also didn’t address the allegation that he was the ringleader.

On Monday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the four suspects “admitted their crimes while being interviewed on television.”

Hong Kong police are requesting Chinese authorities confirm the details of what Gui and the others said.

They also said they met with Lee Monday at a guesthouse in mainland China and that Lee had told them he had traveled to China “voluntarily” and had not been kidnapped.

But the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Lam found this hard to believe. Referring to the five detainees, he said it was “really incredible that they would themselves voluntarily return to China using unconventional channels. To return to China to face those charges. It’s inconceivable.

“The other publishers and journalists [in Hong Kong] in general are afraid that somehow if they run a file of Xi Jinping or the Chinese party or government, they might face some kind of punishment.”

Lee disappeared from Hong Kong at the end of December, sparking mass protests amid claims that he had been detained and spirited across the border by Chinese police, who are not permitted to act in the autonomous city.

Hong Kong movie predicts dark future

CNN’s Shen Lu, Serena Dong and Yuli Yang and intern Serenitie Wang contributed to this report