Advertisement
Advertisement
Hong Kong bookseller disappearances
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
Lee Po is the majority shareholder of Causeway Bay Books in Hong Kong.

Lee Po ‘involuntarily removed’ from Hong Kong to mainland China, says UK government

Bookseller’s disappearance a ‘serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong’

Britain has demanded from China’s leadership the “immediate return” of the “involuntarily removed” Lee Po to his hometown, calling the missing bookseller’s case a “serious breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

The renewed diplomatic tension over Lee comes as the UK government expressed “serious concern” over the level of rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hongkongers, claiming they had come under “unprecedented pressure”.

READ MORE: Causeway Bay Books remains closed despite claim by Lee Po’s wife: four booksellers still missing, presumed detained

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond highlighted concerns about academic freedom and freedom of the press in the foreword of his latest six-monthly report on Hong Kong, released on Friday.

The report comes amid warming relations between China and the UK in the wake of President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to London last year.

The UK became the first government involved in Lee’s case to suggest that Chinese agents were behind his disappearance in December.

Lee, a British citizen, is one of the owners of publishing house Mighty Current which runs Causeway Bay Books, specialising in publications detailing power struggles and scandals in the Communist Party.

READ MORE: Lee Po, the main actor in the mystery of the missing booksellers, and the five questions to be solved

Lee, and four of his business associates who went missing last October have resurfaced on the mainland, either becoming subjects of unspecified investigations or assisting in them.

“Our current information indicates that Mr Lee was involuntarily removed to the mainland without any due process under Hong Kong SAR law,” the report noted. “We have called, in our contacts with the Chinese government at the highest level, for Mr Lee’s immediate return to Hong Kong.”

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond takes a tough line on the disappearance of Lee Po. Photo: AFP

Lee’s case, it added, constitutes a “serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong” and “undermines the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems’”.

The report concluded that both the Hong Kong and Beijing governments could do more to maintain confidence in the city’s high degree of autonomy.

“We urge the authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing to take the necessary steps to maintain confidence in the system and the sanctity of the rights, freedoms and values it upholds,” Hammond added.

The Hong Kong government responded swiftly with a statement calling the British assertion “speculative”. It gave an assurance police would continue to follow through the cases and conduct investigations “even after the wife of Mr Lee Po cancelled her report to the police”.

READ MORE: Lee Po scandal threatens deal on fugitives between Hong Kong and Macau, casts shadow on legal system

The government also reiterated that “only Hong Kong law enforcement agencies”could enforce laws in the city.

The UK government report also highlighted concerns – despite London’s view that one country, two systems had “continued to function well” in many areas – that there were “specific grounds” for concern.

Apart from Lee’s case, the report noted that the Joint Declaration protected academic freedom. It reported in detail the University of Hong Kong controversy, including the rejection of former law dean Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun’s promotion and the appointment of former education minister Arthur Li Kwok-cheung to lead HKU’s governing council.

Another issue that has “given ground to concern” for London is Hong Kong’s press freedom. The report said the British government would “continue to monitor” the situation after detailing the Journalists Association’s report about physical threats and self-censorship on media workers, concerns about Alibaba’s purchase of the South China Morning Post which have already been rejected by both parties, and the police detention of journalists following education minister Eddie Ng Hak-kim.

Post