D-Day for answers on Lee Bo and other missing Hong Kong booksellers?
Lee Bo has been missing since December 30, Beijing has to tell Hong Kong within 14 days whether or not it has detained a Hong Kong resident. If Beijing admits Lee is on the mainland it would have to explain how he got there
Sophie Choi Ka-ping, the wife of the missing book seller Lee Bo, appears in North Point on January 6, 2016.[UPDATE - Tuesday, January 12, 12.56pm]
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying says today is not a definite deadline for answers.
“Sometimes it takes longer ... for mainland authorities to respond on cases like these. This case was reported to the Hong Kong police on January 1, and it has been 11 days since then, but there were cases in the past which took longer for mainland authorities to respond to,” Leung said this morning.
Today is the day Hong Kong might discover another clue in the disappearance of bookseller Lee Bo. Under a formal agreement, Beijing has to tell Hong Kong within 14 days whether or not it has detained a Hong Kong resident, Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun was told by the Hong Kong Police earlier.
Bookstore boss Lee Bo was last seen on December 30, in the Chai Wan warehouse of Mighty Current, the publishing house that owns the bookshop Causeway Bay Books. He is the fifth person from the bookstore to go missing. The store sells books critical of President Xi Jinping. The four other missing men include publishing house owner Gui Minhai, general manager Lui Bo, business manager Cheung Jiping and bookstore manager Lam Wing-kei.
Yesterday, To’s party coworker said that if Beijing admitted Lee was being held across the border, it would have to explain how he came to be on the mainland. “And don’t forget that other booksellers have already been missing for longer than 14 days. The mainland has not notified Hong Kong on those cases,” he said, referring to four associates of Lee who have vanished since October.