Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying says that mainland authorities have yet to reply to the Hong Kong government after missing bookseller Gui Minhai was paraded on state TV and a new “letter” from Lee Bo emerged on Sunday.
In response to questions from reporters at the Asian Financial Forum, Leung said that the government was still very concerned about the cases.
“The Gui Minhai case has not been reported to the Hong Kong Police or the Hong Kong government. In the past 12 hours or so, and that was last night, and this morning, mainland and Hong Kong media carried reports on Mr Lee Bo and the related case. We attach a great deal of importance to such and any other information that could help the Hong Kong Police and the Hong Kong government to understand the case better,” Leung said.
In a ten-minute “exclusive interview” broadcast on Sunday, Gui – a China-born Swedish citizen – said he surrendered to mainland authorities last October after over a decade on the run. The wife of another missing bookseller, store co-owner Lee Bo, told Headline Daily that she had received letters from her husband saying that he had recently learned of Gui’s criminal background, calling him a very “immoral person”. Lee also blamed Gui for his predicament.
Leung added that the government will urge the mainland to reply to enquiries from the police through all channels.
It has been 17 days since Lee Bo’s wife submitted a missing person report to police on January 1. Under a reciprocal mechanism, law enforcement agencies in the mainland must notify the Hong Kong police within 14 days if any Hong Kong resident is detained across the border.
See also: More questions than answers: Missing publisher’s ‘Chinese style confession’ draws backlash
Gui was a staff member at Mighty Current Publishing, which owns Causeway Bay Books. The store is well-known among mainland tourists as a source of political titles banned in China. Four other members of staff from the store have been missing since October of last year, including co-owner Lee Bo. Gui went missing in Thailand and is not among those reported missing to Hong Kong police.
