Missing Hong Kong booksellers return

Missing since last year, two Hong Kong booksellers apparently detained in Mainland China have returned to the city, saying they do not need any police or government help.
One of five booksellers who went missing on the mainland last year, Cheung Chi-ping also asked that the missing persons file on him be dropped.
He returned on Sunday, two days after his boss Lui Por, a GM of Mighty Current, a publishing house specialising in books critical of the Chinese Communist Party. Cheung was Lui’s assistant.
It is believed Cheung was not handed over to Hong Kong police by mainland law-enforcement officers, but used his Hong Kong ID card to return from Shenzhen at the Lo Wu immigration control point shortly after 7am.
Three other missing booksellers are still believed to be on the mainland, and in an official statement the Hong Kong police say they are continuing to follow through with the two related missing person cases with the Interpol liaison office in Guangdong.
Hong Kong legislator Albert Ho Chun-yan says he believes Cheung and Lui’s refusal to co-operate with Hong Kong police could be a deal they struck with the mainland authorities in exchange for their early release. He says that rejecting the government’s offer for help can save it trouble, and the police “will have a good excuse for making no progress”.
While the issue could gradually die down, public confidence in the “one country two systems” concept has been greatly affected, says Ho.
Cheung, Lui and associate Lam Wing-kee all went missing while on the mainland in October. In the same month, Mighty Current shareholder Gui Minhai vanished in unexplained circumstances while in Pattaya, Thailand. Another associate, Lee Po, disappeared from Hong Kong in December.
Lee met with Hong Kong police at an undisclosed location last week and also asked them to drop his case. He also said he did not need help and would return home when a mainland investigation involving his associate, Gui, was complete.
Meanwhile, Causeway Bay Books, the “upstairs” bookstore opened by the missing booksellers in the heart of Causeway Bay, remains closed.

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