He kept his movements to himself and his communications routed, and his work projects would also be shrouded in secrecy. [54][57][78] The first editorial, on 4 January, opined that the bookshop's business model depended on "stirring up troubles on the mainland ... [and]... that it interferes with mainland affairs in a disguised way, and damages the mainland's vital interests to maintain its harmony and stability. [15] The fact that his home return permit was left at home led many to fear that he may have somehow been abducted by the mainland public security bureau and renditioned to Shenzhen. : 3125 0888 Special notice for Macau customers Phone: +852-34196789. [38] The Hong Kong police said that Lee Bo and his wife had met at a guesthouse in China on Saturday, 23 January. [111] Later on, her trial in Stockholm District Court started in June 2020. On 21 April, Lam was splashed with red paint and three suspects were arrested the next day. We have called, in our contacts with the Chinese government at the highest level, for Mr Lee's immediate return to Hong Kong. [69], The disappearances led to a very severe crisis of confidence within the publishing sector, with many booksellers being afraid to sell such books on mainland politics or featuring gossip on political figures. [11] It was one of about 110 independent Hong Kong bookshops that rent out space in upstairs locations to avoid high rents at street level. [14] He was taken away from his home in Pattaya, Thailand by an unknown man on 17 October 2015. This constitutes a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong and undermines the principle of “One Country, Two Systems” which assures Hong Kong residents of the protection of the Hong Kong legal system. Phone 3419 6789. [18][19] Two Hong Kong magazine publishers, Wong Kin-man and Wo Chung-hau, were arrested and tried in November 2015 for running an illegal business in China after sending copies of a political magazine to people on the mainland. [34] His wife filed a missing persons report with the police on 5 November and his family received a telephone call from him several hours later;[34] he refused to reveal his whereabouts. [2][11][12] The bookstore became popular amongst mainland Chinese tourists for this reason. 香港旺角西洋菜南街66號 3/F. The full facts of the case remain unclear, but our current information indicates that Mr Lee was involuntarily removed to the mainland without any due process under Hong Kong SAR law. [79] On 8 January Chinese security officials acknowledged that Lee Bo was being held in China. Some booksellers began to pull anti-China books off shelves. [70] Richard Charkin, president of the International Publishers Association expressed "deep concern" for the missing men and called for their safe return home. [107] According to the Hong Kong government, Lui Bo had returned to Hong Kong and met with Hong Kong police on the morning of 4 March. [22] He descended his building in a lift with at least eight other people at around 6 pm, and witnesses saw him being pushed by a group of men into a minivan, which sped away the moment he was securely on board. Eslite Bookstore (Causeway Bay) 4.6 /5. Eslite Bookstore: Mega Book Store in Causeway Bay - See 98 traveler reviews, 90 candid photos, and great deals for Hong Kong, China, at Tripadvisor. [42][44][45][46][47], Amongst local media outlets, only Apple Daily and Ming Pao ran coverage on their front pages initially, while other local newspapers carried only brief pieces about a missing person. Televised confessions don't tend to trade in logic, or truth. [40] President Tsai Ing-wen sent flowers and a congratulatory note on the day of the Taipei bookshop's opening,[41] and Legislative Yuan speaker You Si-kun and Democratic Progressive Party secretary-general Luo Wen-jia were in attendance. [39], Lam Wing-kee opened a second version of the bookstore in Taipei, Taiwan, which opened on 25 April 2020.,[24][6] located on the 10th floor of a commercial building near the Zhongshan metro station. Xi Nuo says his decision to publish the book was to challenge the Chinese authorities. [49][15][1][21][50][51] Article 22 states that no department of the central, provincial, or municipal governments within China may interfere in the affairs which the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region administers on its own. [126], Lam Wing-kee was the last bookseller with Hong Kong citizenship to be allowed to return to Hong Kong from the mainland, eight months after he disappeared. [65][92][93] Legal experts have become increasingly concerned at the reach of Chinese law enforcement. Our knowledgeable staff can help select books specifically for your child. His disappearance is the only known disappearance that occurred in Hong Kong territory, and thus sparked even more concern on whether the integrity of "one country, two systems" is being maintained. [82], Commentators have noted a resurgent interest from citizens in renewing their BNO passports as they are feeling insecure in having a Hong Kong passport. I should shoulder my responsibility and I don't want any individual or institutions to interfere, or viciously hype up my return". "[137], He moved to Taiwan in April 2019. [23][24], Lui Bo (呂波, age 50–51) is the manager and one of the three shareholders of Mighty Current. ” In 4 reviews 3. [118][119], On 24 March, Lee Bo returned to Hong Kong and asked the authorities to drop the case like his three colleagues did before. [1][16][17] The publishing house had also already gone to press with a book entitled 2017: Upheaval in China, but it was withdrawn by the author before publication. [65], On 10 January, in excess of 6,000 people attended a protest march from the Hong Kong government headquarters in Admiralty to the China Liaison Office in Sai Wan demanding Beijing to respect the one country, two systems agreement to preserve Hong Kong's autonomy. 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 feels illogical, absurd even. 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". CAUSEWAY BAY, HONG KONG +852 3622 2456 HONGKONG@STUSSY.COM Before reaching Beijing, 10 men in plain clothes kidnapped him away yet again in front of the diplomats. … He requested that his missing person case be closed and expressed that he does not require assistance from the Hong Kong government and police. [21][22], According to The Sunday Times, the mainland authorities had issued instructions on 25 April 2015 to eradicate illegal publications and those containing sexual content. He added that the disappearances "immediately raise dire questions about the Chinese government's commitment to freedom to publish". [79][97][98], In the video footage Gui said: "Returning to the Chinese mainland and surrendering was my personal choice and had nothing to do with anyone else. Address: 500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. [14], Gui Minhai (桂民海, age 56) is a Swedish national and one of the three shareholders of Mighty Current. [71] Singapore-owned Page One removed some of the books published by Mighty Current – in particular many titles focusing on Xi Jinping – from their retail outlet at Hong Kong airport. The shop design is infused with distinctive flair of Hong Kong in the 50s and 60s, exuding an extra dose of elegance. The Sunday Times published what was described to be an alleged internal Communist Party document entitled "Guangdong Action Plan", a summary of which had been circulating in journalistic and political circles the previous week, and the full document gives apparent authorisation for excursions by Guangdong enforcers targeting authors, publishers and booksellers. Covering literature, history, art, design and illustration, this little-known bookstore is home … [9][10], Causeway Bay Books (銅鑼灣書店), located in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, was founded in 1994 by Lam Wing-kee. [6], The first version of the bookstore in Hong Kong was founded in 1994 by Lam Wing-kee. [113][114] However, the case remains open as Hong Kong police confirmed that a missing person report can only be cancelled by the subject in person. [76] This is viewed as a rebuke to Britain and a characterisation of the disappearance as an internal matter. [18][19][14] He was known to have been preparing to publish book by a Chinese writer residing in the US about Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping, entitled Godfather of China, Xi Jinping (中國教父習近平). They trade in fear. 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. MON - SUN 2PM - 9PM. [41] Chief Executive CY Leung stated in a press conference on 4 January 2016 that if mainland Chinese law officials were operating in Hong Kong, it would be "unacceptable" and a breach of the Basic Law. [128][129] Lam was not told what offence he had committed until after he was taken to Ningbo, where he was held in solitary confinement and under 24-hour guard by six teams of gaolers from the "Central Investigation Team" (中央專案組) – a Cultural Revolution-era unit whose powers and authority exceed those of the public security bureaus (PSB), reporting to central leadership. [132][10] His release was conditional upon retrieving a hard drive from the bookstore containing lists of readers who had bought books from his business and without divulging any details of his detention. He denied that he was kidnapped, but did not give details as to how he actually entered Mainland China without his travel documents. There are books on virtually every subject, and there’s a good selection of English books for kids, too. Closed Open from 10:00am-10:00pm. 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. [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. [52] Leung furthermore hoped that "anyone, especially Lee Bo himself, can provide relevant information" about his disappearance. [33][34] However, legislator James To said this was a reasonable request that was exempt from privacy policy. At least two of them disappeared in mainland China, one in Thailand. [14], Lee Bo (aka Paul Lee, 李波, age 70–71),[37] was a British citizen and the husband of Sophie Choi, who is in turn one of the three shareholders of Mighty Current. [60], Global Times, a tabloid subsidiary of People's Daily, wrote three successive belligerent editorials on the case,[57] an act viewed by Hong Kong media as an indirect recognition of China's role in the disappearances. His wife was unwilling to speak to the press at the time, but filed a missing person's report with the Hong Kong police the following day. [79][97][98][99] He allegedly absconded before the damages could be settled. On 14 October 2015, he logged in for the last time onto the bookstore computer. [127] Three days later, on the day he was due to return to the mainland, he held a press briefing in the presence of legislator Albert Ho during which he claimed that he was abducted by the mainland officials at the Hong Kong-China border control in Shenzhen on 24 October 2015. Causeway Bay Book Centre. In its semi-annual report on Hong Kong for the second half of 2015, the British Foreign Secretary said: "The unexplained disappearance of five individuals associated with a Hong Kong bookstore and publishing house has raised questions in Hong Kong. causeway bay, hong kong +852 3622 2456 hongkong@stussy.com NOW OPEN • CONTACT FOR STORE HOURS 9 PAK SHA RD. [15], Around the time of the disappearances, Gui Minhai was rumoured to have been working on a book regarding current CPC general secretary Xi Jinping's personal love history, tentatively named Xi and His Six Women (習近平和他的六個女人). [3][4][5] The first bookstore closed after the disappearance of its last staff member, Lee Bo, in December 2015. Lee's wife criticised Ng for his insincere apology. I am particularly concerned by the situation of Mr Lee Po, a British citizen. [33] He habitually spent long hours at the bookshop and occasionally slept there. The last bastion of Hong Kong's guarantees is the law. [100] Gui appealed for the public not to hype his disappearance. [128][132], Lee Bo rejected Lam's assertions the next day, denying that he had told Lam how he ended up in the mainland or that he had handed over the bookstore's list of customers to mainland police. No books had ever been banned in Hong Kong before. A few days earlier on 20 April, a company accused Lam of infringing on their trademark on the Chinese name for the bookstore (銅鑼灣書店), which Lam claimed was a fake bookstore opened elsewhere in Taipei to target his. A Bookstore That Shines as ‘a Lighthouse of a Free Society’ A Hong Kong bookseller has recreated his shop in Taipei, and it has become a symbol of … Former legislator Margaret Ng suggested that Hong Kong's status as a world city was coming into question, and said "Hong Kong can be deemed to be no longer safe unless we have a clear resolution of the problem". [19] Yiu was arrested by police in Shenzhen on charges of falsely labelling and smuggling industrial chemicals worth $220,000 in 2010 and was sentenced to prison for 10 years allegedly for smuggling, even though the real reason for the trumped up charges, in the eyes of many, was China's increasing restrictions on political expression under Xi. Eight countries including the US, UK, Sweden, Canada, Japan, Australia and Germany had privately expressed concerns about the apparent breach of "One country, two systems". [70] As of 7 January 2016, over 500 publishers, writers, booksellers and members of the public had signed an online petition pledging to "not fear the white terror and uphold the principle of publication freedom". [31], Gui was a board member of Independent Chinese PEN Centre in 2014. 3 photos >. 香港, HK “ Located on the 8th - 10th floor of the Hysan Place shopping center, this bookshop is a mecca if you're a book lover (or not). [11][12][13] In 2014, the bookstore was sold to Mighty Current Media Company Limited (巨流傳媒有限公司), a publishing house. Adding that his British citizenship had been sensationalised, Lee Bo says that he will abandon his right of abode in the United Kingdom. One member was last seen in Hong Kong, and eventually revealed to be in Shenzhen, across the Chinese border, without the travel documents neces… [40] Choi, who had been expecting Lee home for dinner at around 7.15 pm on 30 December, raised the alarm when he failed to return home. [57], Mainland law enforcement agencies must notify their Hong Kong counterparts within 14 days under a reciprocal mechanism if any Hong Kong resident is detained across the border, but Hong Kong officials had received no word through these channels at the expiration of the deadline. 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. [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. 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