‘Missing’ bookseller on way back to China

hong kong — Hong Kong bookseller Lee Bo, who went missing three months ago and surfaced in China, is already on his way back over the border after a brief return home, local media reported.

British citizen Lee, 65, returned to Hong Kong on Thursday after disappearing in late December, in a case that has raised alarm over Beijing’s tightening grip.

But Lee crossed back into the mainland Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours after his arrival on Thursday.

“It’s a release with Chinese characteristics,” China expert Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong said.

“The fact of the matter is that he has not really been fully released... he needs to report back to China,” he said.

Lee is one of five Hong Kong booksellers who went “missing” in recent months — the other four are now under criminal investigation on the mainland linked to trading illegal books in China.

The men all worked for the Mighty Current publishing house, which produced salacious titles about political intrigue and love affairs at the highest levels of Chinese politics.

Lee’s case caused the greatest outcry because he was the only bookseller to disappear from Hong Kong, prompting accusations that Chinese law enforcement agents were operating in the semi-autonomous city, illegal under its constitution.

Three of the other booksellers went missing from southern China and one from Thailand in October. —