Choi Ka-ping, the wife of the missing book seller Lee Bo, outside her flat in North Point on Wednesday. Photo: David Wong
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https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1898288/hong-kong-lawmaker-apologises-saying-missing-booksellers Law and Crime
Hong Kong lawmaker apologises for saying missing booksellers were caught visiting prostitutes, but Lee Bo’s wife rejects it
Despite criticism over remarks, legislator Ng Leung-sing insists he was providing another theory for disappearance of Lee Bo and associates
Finance sector Legislator Ng Leung-sing attends the Legco meeting on second reading of the controversial Copyright (Amendment) Bill in Legco Chamber in Tamar. 06JAN16 SCMP/ Dickson Lee
Pro-government lawmaker Ng Leung-sing apologised on Wednesday for repeating an unsubstantiated online rumour that the missing bookseller Lee Bo and his four associates were caught by mainland officers while having fun with prostitutes, but Lee’s wife rejected the gesture.
Yet Ng insisted that his aim was to provide another theory for the disappearances of the five Hong Kong booksellers.
Ng read out a message from his friend at a Legislative Council meeting on Tuesday afternoon, saying the Hong Kong bookseller Lee Bo and his four associates had taken a boat to go to the mainland and hire prostitutes there. The message also was circulated in social media.
The finance-sector lawmaker even alleged that mainland officers had recorded video as “evidence”. Ng claimed that Lee’s wife, Choi Ka-ping, had withdrawn her request for police help because she had received the evidence.
On Wednesday Ng apologised to Lee and Choi for alleging that the five had sought prostitutes in the mainland before he was able to verify the claim. He had wanted to share the full message he had received.
“I could not cut short the information I got. I solemnly apologise to Mr Lee and Mrs Lee for mentioning the part involving moral issues without verification,” Ng said.
Asked for her response to the apology, Choi said: “I do not accept it.” She told members of the media gathered outside her home that she was not feeling well and did not answer questions asking about her husband’s whereabouts or about his reported British citizenship.
Ng’s accusations sparked a storm of criticism, with People Power lawmaker Raymond Chan Chi-chuen saying: “You will get hit by lightning walking on the street by making such accusations. Those are just internet rumours. Even if [Ng] disappeared one day, I would not believe in internet rumours that he got caught while having fun with prostitutes.”
Not only have his comments seriously hurt me, but to say such irresponsible things at a solemn Legislative Council meeting is making a fool out of the Hong Kong people. Would anyone cross the border illegally to seek out prostitutes in mainland China?
Ng on Wednesday said he had wanted the public to have another perspective as rumours were circulating. He said he was referring in particular to claims that the missing people were arrested by mainland police in the city and then taken across the border.
“That is to let [people] know about a means of leaving Hong Kong – that is, the so-called ‘hair washing’ boat,” Ng said on Wednesday.
He said he wanted to honour the public’s right to know and he felt it a legislator’s duty to tell them what he knew.
Hong Kong Journalists Association chairwoman Sham Yee-lan said the media reports on the disappearances of the five were based on the people involved and supported by analysis from mainland experts.
However, she said the claims mentioned by Ng were unverified and had caused injury to the five.
Ng’s apology came after Choi lashed out at him on Tuesday evening, describing his comments – made under Legislative Council privilege – as “shameful and irresponsible”.
“I reserve the right to legal action against Ng Leung-sing for slander,” she wrote in a message.
“Not only have his comments seriously hurt me, but to say such irresponsible things at a solemn Legislative Council meeting is making a fool out of the Hong Kong people. Would anyone cross the border illegally to seek out prostitutes in mainland China?”
Lee, 65, was last seen on Wednesday last week in the Chai Wan warehouse of Mighty Current, the publishing house that owns the bookshop. He vanished weeks after four associates went missing.
The case took a dramatic twist on Monday, when Choi suddenly withdrew her request for police help, claiming she had been in touch with her husband after he vanished.
Deepening the mystery, the Central News Agency published what it said was a handwritten letter faxed by Lee to a bookstore colleague.
The letter stated that Lee “returned to mainland my own way and am working with the concerned parties in an investigation which may take a while”.