Beijing pressed for answers on Hong Kong bookseller
Chief executive pens official letter to mainland authorities asking if agents acted beyond their jurisdiction in detaining Hong Kong residents
The city’s leader has written to Beijing over the bookseller controversy, seeking clarification on how it deals with Hong Kong residents breaking mainland laws and whether agents from across the border have operated beyond their jurisdiction.
But Lam Wing-kee, the bookseller at the centre of the storm, told the Post yesterday he had no doubt, after eight months of detention on the mainland, that the two officers who escorted him back to Hong Kong last week were carrying out unauthorised law enforcement work in the city.
Heading into his cabinet meeting yesterday morning, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said his letter highlighted four major aspects of the city’s concerns:
“How do mainland authorities deal with cases involving Hong Kong residents breaking the law on the mainland?
“Did mainland authorities enforce their law across the border [in Hong Kong]?
“When Hong Kong residents are detained on the mainland, can the existing Hong Kong-mainland notification system protect their legal rights, and is the mechanism transparent enough?