‘Missing’ bookseller returns to Hong Kong after three-month absence

Katie Hunt
By Katie Hunt, CNN
Published 9:52 PM EDT, Thu March 24, 2016
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.
Photos: Hong Kong's missing booksellers
PHOTO: Reuters/ thepaper.cn
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.
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.
Photos: Hong Kong's missing booksellers
PHOTO: 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.
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."
Photos: Hong Kong's missing booksellers
PHOTO: Reuters
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."
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.
Photos: Hong Kong's missing booksellers
PHOTO: Reuters
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.
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.
Photos: Hong Kong's missing booksellers
PHOTO: 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.
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.
Photos: Hong Kong's missing booksellers
PHOTO: 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.

Story highlights

Lee Bo returns to Hong Kong after three months

Bookseller says he wasn't abducted from the city

(CNN) —  

A Hong Kong man who sold controversial books about China’s elite has returned home after a mysterious three-month absence, according to the city’s government.

Lee Bo told Hong Kong immigration officials Thursday that he had been in mainland China to help in an investigation into his associate Gui Minhai and hadn’t been kidnapped. Although Hong Kong immigration authorities show no record of him leaving, he didn’t explain how he crossed the border.

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 from Hong Kong by Chinese security forces in December – a city where they have no legal authority.

Beijing 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 Chinese leaders. Two of the group – Lui Por and Cheung Chi Ping – returned to Hong Kong in early March.

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.

Lee told Hong Kong police that with the help of his friends, he had “with the assistance of his friends, returned to China by his own means voluntarily and it was not an abduction.” He stated that he was free and safe while in China.

A British passport holder, the UK had said that Lee was “involuntary removed” from Hong Kong and the case was a “serious breach” of a bilateral treaty with China.

No escape? China ignores borders in pursuit of critics