Lee Bo’s wife visits missing Hong Kong publisher in mainland China

The new twist in the disappearances of Lee Bo and four colleagues intensified fears of a crackdown on freedom of speech.

A protester wearing a mask of missing bookseller Lee Bo in Hong Kong.

The wife of the missing head of a publisher specialising in books banned on the mainland has told police she has visited him in China, Hong Kong police said yesterday.

It is the latest twist in the disappearances of British citizen Lee Bo and four of his colleagues, intensifying fears Beijing is clamping down on Hong Kong’s freedom of speech.

Mr Lee has previously written in letters to his wife that he returned voluntarily to the mainland, but supporters suspect he was kidnapped.

Hong Kong police said yesterday Mr Lee’s wife had told them she had met him on Saturday afternoon at a guesthouse on the mainland. She said he was healthy, in good spirits and assistin­g a probe as a witness.

She handed over a letter from Mr Lee addressed to Hong Kong police. The statement said it was similar to previous letters.

It is still unclear exactly where Mr Lee and the other four men linked to the publisher Mighty Current and its Causeway Bay Bookshop are, what the investig­ation involves, and whether Mr Lee was being detained or was there voluntarily.

Hong Kong police said they were continuing to investigate Mr Lee’s case and had again asked police in Guangdong province, over the mainland border, to assist in arranging a meeting with him.

The circumstances of Mr Lee’s case have led many to suspect Chinese security agents crossed into Hong Kong to abduct­ him, in breach of the “one country, two systems” principle Beijing promised to uphold after taking control of the city from Britain in 1997.

Reports said he was last seen at his warehouse on December 30 and did not have his mainland travel permit, but days after he went missing he called his wife to say he was in Guangdong.

The other four men have disappeared since October from mainland China or Thailand.

AP