Mystery deepens over death of Hong Kong Polytechnic University academic in Shenzhen
While mainland police say Hilary Bower was killed, British diplomats decline confirmation that this was what happened
The mysterious killing of a Hong Kong academic in Shenzhen has taken a new twist after British diplomats dealing with the dead man’s family declined to confirm that he had been murdered.
More than three weeks after Hong Kong Polytechnic University language instructor Hilary Bower, 60, was last seen alive and 13 days after the British consulate in Hong Kong was told of his disappearance, frantic family, friends and work colleagues remain in the dark over what happened to him.
‘Vanished’ PolyU teacher was murdered in Shenzhen the day he left Hong Kong: police
On Tuesday, Hong Kong police said the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau had told them that Bower – a permanent Hong Kong resident and British national – had been killed on March 22 in the border metropolis after crossing into the mainland through the Lo Wu checkpoint.
That was the last record of the academic being alive.
Responding to questions about his death, a spokesman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office would only say on Wednesday: “We are providing assistance to the family of a British national reported missing in southern China and are urgently seeking further information from local authorities.”
Bower, who commuted to Hong Kong each day from Shenzhen, was last seen by his mainland girlfriend, Shi Xiumei, with whom he lived along with his six-year-old son, on March 21.
She fully expected him to return home the next day and came to Hong Kong to report him missing on March 31, the same day the British consulate in the SAR was alerted.