Disappearance of China’s Critics Arouses Speculation Abroad
The South China Morning Post reported that five men associated with Mighty Current Media, a publishing company and bookstore in Hong Kong, have gone missing since last October. The owner of the store went missing first, followed by four other staff members. Notably, two of the men, Gui Minhai and Lee Bo, held British and Swedish passports, drawing both the Western and Chinese media’s attention. The bookstore, Causeway Bay Books, specializes in works critical of China’s leaders, spreading gossip ranging from corruption to their personal sex lives. Three months after his initial disappearance, Gui appeared on Chinese national television confessing to a fatal hit-and-run accident committed in 2003. Lee told his wife through a phone call that he was in the mainland cooperating with an investigation. The Hong Kong Police released a statement on February 4th saying the remaining three were also being investigated by the Chinese government in Guangdong province.
Hong Kong, media speculated that the men had been abducted by mainland law enforcement agents, citing missing records of Gui and Lee leaving the city as evidence. Not only would this be a major violation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, but it would also jeopardize the safety of nearly one hundred political refugees currently residing in Thailand. The reasons behind the investigation and detainment of the other employees remain vague, causing thousands of protesters to throng the streets of Hong Kong in the name of justice.
Western media has sided with Hong Kong in its coverage of the incident. CNN connected this occurrence with 4 other disappearances, hinting at China’s new pattern of reaching beyond its physical and legal borders to arrest critics abroad. Similarly, The New York Times reported that China has often arrested critical Hong Kong publishers on the basis of unrelated charges.
On the other hand, Chinese media has provided a convincing backstory to Gui’s arrival in China. According to a Xinhua report, Gui’s decision to return to his motherland was prompted by the news of his father’s passing in June. Overcome with guilt and remorse for the crime he committed, he finally decided to turn himself in and made a heartfelt apology to the family members involved in the incident. He insisted that his return was voluntary and condemned outside speculations on China’s ulterior motives.
Other Chinese sources have accused Western media and Hong Kong’s opposition party of using this opportunity to question China’s commitment to the “One Country, Two Systems” framework that has governed the two territories since 1997. According to this principle, Hong Kong accepted Chinese sovereignty in exchange for a certain degree of political autonomy. Chinese sources also accused the Causeway Bay Bookstore of distributing fabricated works into the mainland with the aim of sullying the government and its officials.
Despite claims that it will reopen on February 1, Causeway Bay Books has remained closed. A lack of concrete evidence has left this incident open to the interpretation of the media and further heightened the tension between China and Hong Kong.