New | ‘First and foremost a Chinese citizen’: China’s foreign minister on missing Hong Kong bookseller who also holds British passport
New developments including letter allegedly from bookstore owner spark further speculation over his disappearance
The disappearance of Lee Bo took a diplomatic twist in Beijing last night when China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, described the missing Hong Kong bookseller as “first and foremost a Chinese citizen”.
Wang was responding to questions during a joint press conference with British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, who is in the capital to sign business deals as the economic relationship between the two nations grows.
READ MORE: Letter to wife from vanished Hong Kong bookseller Lee Bo throws up more questions than answers
At the same press conference Hammond expressed “deep concern” about the disappearance of 65-year-old Lee – who holds a British Passport – and called on the Hong Kong and mainland authorities to “urgently” ascertain his welfare and whereabouts.
The top-level intervention came as Lee’s wife, Sophie Choi Ka-ping said a letter she received from her husband which prompted her to withdraw a missing person report she made to Hong Kong police last week, was authentic, insisting it was in his handwriting and he hadn’t been forced to write it.
“I believe he wrote the letter out of his own free will, that’s why I withdrew the request for police help,” she said.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the police investigation would continue and even urged Lee to come forward and provide information to the SAR authorities.