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| Hong Kong Bookseller Confesses on TV to Evading Rules on Shipping to Mainland | Hong Kong Bookseller Confesses on TV to Evading Rules on Shipping to Mainland |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| HONG KONG — A co-owner of a Hong Kong publishing house who disappeared from his home in Thailand only to emerge in police custody in China has given a televised confession, saying that his company circumvented customs regulations to ship politically sensitive books from Hong Kong to the mainland. | HONG KONG — A co-owner of a Hong Kong publishing house who disappeared from his home in Thailand only to emerge in police custody in China has given a televised confession, saying that his company circumvented customs regulations to ship politically sensitive books from Hong Kong to the mainland. |
| The disappearance of the businessman, Gui Minhai, a naturalized Swedish citizen, and four other people connected with the publishing house, Mighty Current Media, and its bookshop in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong has set off protests and widespread concern about the rule of law in this semiautonomous Chinese city. | |
| Mr. Gui and his colleagues churned out gossip-filled books on elite politics in China that were aimed at mainland tourists unable to find such material at home. | Mr. Gui and his colleagues churned out gossip-filled books on elite politics in China that were aimed at mainland tourists unable to find such material at home. |
| Mr. Gui was shown on Phoenix Television, a broadcaster based in Hong Kong, on Sunday night saying that he had circumvented China’s strict rules on importing books, in part by placing shipments in bags that could not be X-rayed. He also said that he had forged documents from Sweden to apply for his Chinese driver’s license. | Mr. Gui was shown on Phoenix Television, a broadcaster based in Hong Kong, on Sunday night saying that he had circumvented China’s strict rules on importing books, in part by placing shipments in bags that could not be X-rayed. He also said that he had forged documents from Sweden to apply for his Chinese driver’s license. |
| The Phoenix report included interviews with another co-owner, Lu Bo, and two employees, Lin Rongji and Zhang Zhiping, who said they had helped Mr. Gui with the banned book sales. The three men were detained in Guangdong Province in October. | The Phoenix report included interviews with another co-owner, Lu Bo, and two employees, Lin Rongji and Zhang Zhiping, who said they had helped Mr. Gui with the banned book sales. The three men were detained in Guangdong Province in October. |
| A fifth man connected with Mighty Current Media, Lee Bo, an editor, was last seen in Hong Kong in late December. He later called his wife to say he had gone to Shenzhen, a neighboring city in the mainland, to aid an investigation. | A fifth man connected with Mighty Current Media, Lee Bo, an editor, was last seen in Hong Kong in late December. He later called his wife to say he had gone to Shenzhen, a neighboring city in the mainland, to aid an investigation. |
| Hong Kong police and immigration officers met with Mr. Lee on Monday in a guesthouse on the mainland, the police said in a statement. He told the officers that had gone to the mainland voluntarily and was not abducted, but he declined to give further details, the police said. | Hong Kong police and immigration officers met with Mr. Lee on Monday in a guesthouse on the mainland, the police said in a statement. He told the officers that had gone to the mainland voluntarily and was not abducted, but he declined to give further details, the police said. |
| He said he was “assisting in an investigation of a case relating to a person surnamed Gui” and would return to Hong Kong when the matter was settled. Mr. Lee also asked that the police not reveal his location, according to the statement, and said he required no further help from the Hong Kong authorities. | He said he was “assisting in an investigation of a case relating to a person surnamed Gui” and would return to Hong Kong when the matter was settled. Mr. Lee also asked that the police not reveal his location, according to the statement, and said he required no further help from the Hong Kong authorities. |
| In an interview broadcast by Phoenix on Monday evening, Mr. Lee gave a similar explanation for his disappearance. | |
| “After the problems with Mighty Current Media emerged, I wanted to secretly go to the mainland and clear up the problems as quickly as possible,” he said. He told the network he was worried that he would have to testify against people who could cause problems for him or his family, so he traveled secretly with the help of friends so as not to leave a record of crossing the internal border between Hong Kong and mainland China. | |
| Mr. Lee added that he planned to give up his British “right of abode” because it had “made the situation even more complex.” Mr. Lee has British citizenship, and Britain’s top diplomat has complained that the handling of Mr. Lee’s case was in violation of a treaty on the status of Hong Kong, a former colony, that gives residents protection under a separate legal system. | |
| The Paper, a state news outlet based in Shanghai, reported on Sunday that the police handling the case said that because Mr. Lin, Mr. Lu and Mr. Zhang had “a relatively good attitude in admitting their crimes,” there was a possibility that they could soon be released to return to Hong Kong. | The Paper, a state news outlet based in Shanghai, reported on Sunday that the police handling the case said that because Mr. Lin, Mr. Lu and Mr. Zhang had “a relatively good attitude in admitting their crimes,” there was a possibility that they could soon be released to return to Hong Kong. |
| But Mr. Gui was not named as a candidate for release, and his admission to the book shipments indicated that he might be charged with new crimes. Since October 2014, the publishing house has shipped about 4,000 books to 380 people in 28 Chinese provinces and regions, The Paper reported, citing investigators. | But Mr. Gui was not named as a candidate for release, and his admission to the book shipments indicated that he might be charged with new crimes. Since October 2014, the publishing house has shipped about 4,000 books to 380 people in 28 Chinese provinces and regions, The Paper reported, citing investigators. |
| Mr. Gui, 51, appeared in a previous televised confession in January on CCTV, China’s national broadcaster, saying that he had violated probation by leaving China after he was convicted of killing a woman in a drunken-driving accident in the eastern city of Ningbo in 2003. | Mr. Gui, 51, appeared in a previous televised confession in January on CCTV, China’s national broadcaster, saying that he had violated probation by leaving China after he was convicted of killing a woman in a drunken-driving accident in the eastern city of Ningbo in 2003. |
| Such televised confessions have become increasingly common in prominent, politically delicate cases in China. The circumstances make it difficult to determine what level of freedom, if any, the subjects have in making their confessions and the potential risks they face for not cooperating. | Such televised confessions have become increasingly common in prominent, politically delicate cases in China. The circumstances make it difficult to determine what level of freedom, if any, the subjects have in making their confessions and the potential risks they face for not cooperating. |
| The Paper report said that Mr. Gui had decided to come to China after his father died in June and that he wanted to see his mother, who is in her 80s. “I always thought about giving myself up,” he said. “I thought that if I took care of that traffic accident mess, I could see my mother once more while she was still alive.” | The Paper report said that Mr. Gui had decided to come to China after his father died in June and that he wanted to see his mother, who is in her 80s. “I always thought about giving myself up,” he said. “I thought that if I took care of that traffic accident mess, I could see my mother once more while she was still alive.” |