Bookseller Lam Wing-kee could face even tougher legal action, Beijing warns
Hong Kong delegation told that cross-border communication system will be reviewed as video reveals bookseller’s life in detention
Chinese public security chiefs warned that bookseller Lam Wing-kee could face tougher legal action for skipping bail and refusing to return to the mainland, as a high-level Hong Kong delegation to Beijing secured a preliminary agreement yesterday on the need to overhaul the existing cross-border communication system.
The city’s justice and security ministers met their mainland counterparts to discuss improving their notification mechanism after it failed to keep Hong Kong informed when Lam and four of his publishing associates disappeared last year and were detained separately across the border for months.
Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun, his state councillor rank reflecting the importance Beijing has placed on the issue, stressed at the meeting that the notification system had been working well since it was established in 2001. But because the central government took very seriously Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s request for a review, Guo said, Beijing was willing to look into improvements.
“Ever since the handover, the central government has firmly put in place the principles of ‘one country, two systems’, Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong, and high autonomy for the city,” Guo said. “Overall, we think [the mechanism] has been working well.
In a statement released before the meeting ended, the ministry said both sides had agreed on guiding principles as to how the system should be improved. They would review the length of time required for notifications, along with the scope, content and channels of such communication.
The case of the five booksellers sparked fears about “one country, two systems” being undermined when they went missing one after another late last year from Hong Kong, the mainland and Thailand. They ended up on the mainland, under investigation for selling banned books criticising China’s Communist Party.
Lam, manager of Causeway Bay Books, caused a sensation last month when he returned from the mainland, claiming he had been nabbed after crossing the border into Shenzhen and put through eight months of “mental torture”.
The Ministry of Public Security issued a statement yesterday accusing Lam of violating his bail conditions, under which he was required to stay in the designated city of Shaoguan and to register any change of address in advance.
The ministry said the bookseller could be held liable for engaging in illegal business exceeding 400,000 yuan. It revealed details about 368 mail transactions, some of which had their package covers altered to state other titles in order to dodge border inspection.
The statement quoted the public security bureau of Ningbo, where Lam was detained for several months, as saying that the “compulsory measures” against him would be tightened. The most serious measure could entail his arrest, although the absence of an extradition treaty between the two sides makes it unlikely.
Professor Song Xiaozhuang, of Shenzhen University’s Centre for Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macau, said extradition would be possible if a reciprocal judicial assistance agreement was struck between the two sides.
Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung told mainland officials at yesterday’s meeting that Hong Kong people were very concerned about what happened to the booksellers. The city’s government “totally understood” the public concern, he said.
The Hong Kong delegation was shown a prepared video detailing Lam’s crimes and providing some insight into how he was treated during his detention.
Lam was filmed cheerfully eating meals, getting a haircut and having his blood pressure checked, with the narrator of the video asserting that the bookseller’s rights were “fully protected”.
Democratic Party lawmaker Albert Ho Chun-yan, who has been assisting Lam, said: “What were they trying to show with the video? They haven’t explained why they did not notify Hong Kong that he was detained. They belittled Hong Kong officials who went to ask the question.”
Additional reporting by Stuart Lau and Joyce Ng
