Causeway Bay Books disappearances

Causeway Bay Books Disappearances
Causeway Bay Books Disappearances
Part of Hong Kong–Mainland China conflict
	The entrance of Causeway Bay Books. It has been closed since the disappearance of its fifth staff member, Lee Bo.
Date	October 2015 – December 2015
Location	Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

The Causeway Bay Books disappearances are a series of international disappearances concerning five staff members of Causeway Bay Books, a former bookstore located in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Between October and December 2015, five staff of Causeway Bay Books went missing. At least two of them disappeared in mainland China, one in Thailand. One member was last seen in Hong Kong, and eventually revealed to be in Shenzhen, across the Chinese border, without the travel documents necessary to have crossed the border through legal channels.

It was widely believed that the booksellers were detained in mainland China,^[1]^[2] and in February 2016 Guangdong provincial authorities confirmed that all five had been taken into custody in relation to an old traffic case involving Gui Minhai.^[3] While response to the October disappearances had been muted, perhaps in recognition that unexplained disappearances and lengthy extrajudicial detentions are known to occur in mainland China,^[4] the unprecedented disappearance of a person in Hong Kong, and the bizarre events surrounding it, shocked the city and crystallised international concern over the possible abduction of Hong Kong citizens by Chinese public security bureau officials and their likely rendition, and the violation of several articles ^{[clarification needed]} of the Basic Law. In his report to the British government and parliament in early January 2016, foreign secretary Philip Hammond said the incident was "a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong and undermines the principle of one country, two systems".^[5]^[6]

Following the international focus on the disappearances, there were virtual reappearances by two of the missing men, Lee Bo, in the form of letters and photographs, and Gui Minhai, in a confessional video broadcast on national television, in which they insisted that their return to mainland China was voluntary but which failed to account for their movement across national borders. These efforts were widely derided by commentators as a farce and a charade, as they failed to satisfy concerns over the breach of "one country, two systems" and its practical and constitutional implications.^[7]^[8]

On 16 June 2016, shortly after he returned to Hong Kong, Lam Wing-kee gave a long press conference in the presence of legislator Albert Ho in which he detailed the circumstances surrounding his eight-month detention, and describing how his confession and those of his associates had been scripted and stage-managed. Lam indicated the involvement of the Central Investigation Team, which is under direct control of the highest level of the Beijing leadership. His revelations stunned Hong Kong and made headlines worldwide, prompting a flurry of counter-accusations and denials from mainland authorities and supporters.^[9]^[10]

^ Cite error: The named reference 20160107guardianpull was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference time4172407 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference time4208964 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference bigstory1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference 20160212theguardian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference bbc35557226 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference ejinsight20160129 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference 20160111vohk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference AutoRQ-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference 20160616hongkongfp was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[20160107guardianpull-1] Cite error: The named reference 20160107guardianpull was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[time4172407-2] Cite error: The named reference time4172407 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[time4208964-3] Cite error: The named reference time4208964 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[bigstory1-4] Cite error: The named reference bigstory1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[20160212theguardian-5] Cite error: The named reference 20160212theguardian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[bbc35557226-6] Cite error: The named reference bbc35557226 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[ejinsight20160129-7] Cite error: The named reference ejinsight20160129 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[20160111vohk-8] Cite error: The named reference 20160111vohk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[AutoRQ-1-9] Cite error: The named reference AutoRQ-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[20160616hongkongfp-10] Cite error: The named reference 20160616hongkongfp was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]