Vanishing freedoms? Disappearance of bookseller Lee Bo raises questions about jurisdiction and rights in Hong Kong

One humid summer evening in 2004, seven mainland men arrived at Mount Davies Road in two private cars and parked outside a seaside mansion overlooking the Sulphur Channel, west of the Victoria Harbour.

But they were no ordinary tourists trying to find a scenic spot - one was carrying a pair of handcuffs. He and another of the men turned out to be officers from the Guangdong Public Security Bureau.

Their apparent target: Wu Yonghong, who was then embroiled in a corruption probe across the border. After a phone call reportedly made by Wu, the seven mainlanders were taken away to the Western Police Station, although police did not have enough evidence to lay any charges.

The incident saw Hongkongers react with anger and alarm at what they saw as an unprecedented covert surveillance mission. Then chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, was swift to express grave concern, saying that, if true, the incident was “absolutely unacceptable”.

The spectre of that troubling incident more than a decade ago loomed again last week when Lee Bo, a co-owner of publishing company Mighty Current and bookstore Causeway Bay Books vanished without a trace.

The 65-year-old was last seen in the Chai Wan warehouse of Mighty Current, which specialises in publishing titles banned on the mainland touting to reveal secrets about China’s top leadership.

In a note believed to have been written by Lee, he said he was on the mainland assisting investigations. But according to his wife, Lee’s travel documents remained at home. She initially went to police but then withdrew her request for help.