A Hong Kong bookseller who said he was blindfolded, interrogated and detained in China led a protest march Saturday defying Beijing as pressure grows for authorities to answer questions over the case.
Lam Wing-kee is one of five booksellers who went missing last year – all worked for Mighty Current, a publisher known for salacious titles about leading Chinese politicians.
A protester holding a sign saying, “CCP Lies Exposed!” Photo: Adrian Lo
The case heightened fears that Beijing was tightening its grip on Hong Kong, with Lam’s explosive revelations earlier this week about how he had been detained in China further fanning many residents’ concerns.
Lam told AFP Saturday that he did not feel afraid after breaking bail, refusing to return to the mainland and breaking silence on his detention.
Photo: Adrian Lo
“I don’t feel scared because there are so many people here,” said Lam, surrounded by supporters who had gathered in Hong Kong to protest against his detention and to demand answers from the city’s authorities over the booksellers’ case.
“I’m happy to be back in Hong Kong.”
Protesters from the People Power party marching through the city centre. Photo: Adrian Lo
He added that he had been contacted by the city’s police but had not yet responded to them. He would give no detail about where he was now living.
Leading the rally, he shouted slogans including “Say no to authority!” and “Hong Kong has a bottom line!”
Protesters carrying a large banner which reads, “Hong Kong has a bottom line. Say no to authority!” Photo: Adrian Lo
The protesters, carrying banners saying “Fight until the very end” marched from the Causeway Bay Bookstore, the business at the centre of the controversy, to China’s liaison office in Sai Wan. Organisers estimated the number of protesters at 6,000, while police put the number at a more conservative 1,800 “at the march’s peak”.
Protesters marching through Central. Photo: Adrian Lo
Attendees included prominent pro-democracy lawmakers like Albert Ho, Emily Lau, “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, Claudia Mo, Cyd Ho, Sin Chung-kai, and Paul Zimmerman.
League of Social Democrats founder, “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung. Photo: Adrian Lo
In a surprise press conference Thursday Lam told how he had been blindfolded and transported north after crossing the border into the mainland to visit his girlfriend in October.
A photo of Lam from his “explosive” press conference, printed with the quote “I hope Hongkongers can say no to authorities. If I can, why can’t you?” Photo: Adrian Lo
Lam said he was kept in a room, interrogated for months and forced to sign away his right to a lawyer or contact with his family.
He also described how he recited a scripted confession broadcast on Chinese state television, admitting to trading banned books, out of fear.
‘Come clean’
Pro-democracy lawmakers are demanding to know what Hong Kong authorities have done to help the booksellers, accusing them of being a puppet of Beijing.
They say China has violated the semi-autonomous system under which the city is ruled.
Protester Simon Chan, 60, said it was time for people to speak up.
Lam surrounded by pan-democratic lawmakers. Photo: Adrian Lo
“If we don’t voice out, then this will just continue and we will be very scared,” he told AFP.
Beijing has refused to be drawn on Lam’s accusations, saying only that it is entitled to pursue the case as he broke mainland Chinese laws.
Hong Kong authorities have expressed “concern”, saying they are attempting to speak to Lam.
Pro-democracy lawmakers are urging the government to admit what it knows about the case.
Pan-democratic lawmaker Frederick Fung. Photo: Adrian Lo
“I request that the government clearly explain what they have done to help Lam or the other Causeway Bay bookstore workers in these past eight months. If they don’t, then they’re not our government,” said legislator Frederick Fung.
In an editorial Saturday, the South China Morning Post, which has recently been criticised for being too Beijing-friendly, also demanded both sides “come clean”.
Lam said he was allowed to return to Hong Kong on Tuesday on condition that he go back over the border Thursday, bringing with him a hard disk listing bookstore customers. He says he did not want to hand over the records and decided to speak out instead.
Lawmaker Claudia Mo holds a sign indicating the death of the “one country, two systems” policy high. Photo: Adrian Lo
Lam is one of four booksellers under investigation on the mainland for trading banned books in China.
The fifth, Lee Bo, the only bookseller to disappear on Hong Kong soil, has said he is simply helping with enquiries and is currently back in the city.
He has refuted Lam’s claims that Lee told him he had been taken to the mainland against his will.
Additional reporting by Coconuts Hong Kong
Photos: Adrian Lo
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