US State Department says disappearance of Hong Kong booksellers raises serious questions about ‘one country, two systems’
Spokesman says case has implications for China’s commitment to city’s autonomy, as well as its respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
The US Department of State said the disappearances of five Hong Kong booksellers known for producing titles critical of China raised serious questions about the “one country, two systems” framework.
At a daily press briefing on Monday, department spokesman John Kirby said it remained deeply concerned by the cases, which involve five Hong Kong residents associated with Mighty Current Media and Causeway Bay Books.
“We continue to follow closely the developments of these cases,” Kirby said.
READ MORE: Timeline – Hong Kong’s missing booksellers and what has happened so far
“They – these cases, including two involving individuals holding European passports – raise serious questions about China’s commitment to Hong Kong’s autonomy under the ‘one country, two systems’ framework as well as its respect for the protection of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms,” he said.
Four of the booksellers – Gui Minhai, Lui Por, Cheung Ji-ping and Lam Wing-kei – went missing separately in October: Gui while on holiday in Thailand in mid-October, and Cheung, Lui and Lam later that month in Shenzhen.
Lee Po, a British passport holder who co-owns Mighty Current, was last seen on December 30 at the publisher’s Chai Wan warehouse.
Lee called his wife, Sophie Choi Ka-ping, from a Shenzhen phone number and told her in Putonghua that he was assisting with an investigation. It later emerged that there was no record of Lee leaving the city.
READ MORE: Causeway Bay Books remains closed despite claim by Lee Po’s wife: four booksellers still missing, presumed detained
Lee later told Choi in a letter that he had gone to the mainland “using his own way” and that he was safe. But there was speculation that he was abducted by mainland law enforcement agents in Hong Kong,
Late last month, he was reported to have been reunited with Choi at a secret location on the mainland. Despite Lee’s wife saying that the bookstore would reopen on Monday, its doors remained shut. Choi did not say if or when her husband would return to Hong Kong.
Gui, a Swedish national, recently appeared on state-run television in China, giving an apparent “confession” to leaving the country while serving a suspended sentence for a conviction in a drink-driving case in which a young woman was killed.
