New claim Lee Bo sent a video and a letter to his wife saying his visit to mainland was ‘personal decision’

Mainland newspaper makes claim it has seen a video and letter sent from missing Hong Kong bookseller Lee Bo to his wife, purporting to say his visit to the mainland was his own choice and he “did not understand why it was made into such a big deal”

JENNIFER.NGO@SCMP.COM

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 10 January, 2016, 11:26am

UPDATED : Sunday, 10 January, 2016, 11:33am

File picture of 65-year-old Lee Bo, a major shareholder in Causeway Bay Books.

The plot thickens in the alarming disappearance of five people related to the Hong Kong bookstore which sells books banned in mainland China, after a pro-establishment newspaper claimed the wife of bookseller, Lee Bo, received yet another letter and a video of her husband yesterday (Saturday), where he reiterated that returning to the mainland was a “personal decision”.

The five disappearances have garnered international attention, with both the European Union and the United States expressing concern over the missing persons all linked to Causeway Bay Books, a bookstore known for selling reading materials critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

The revelation comes with Headline News, sister newspaper to Singtao Daily and owned by Charles Ho Tsu-kwok – a national committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – reported yesterday Lee, in a new letter and video, said it was his own decision to return to the mainland and that he “did not understand why it was made into such a big deal”.

The report only quoted “sources” without giving more details.

A protestor holds up a missing person notice for Lee Bo, 65, the latest of five Hong Kong booksellers from the same Mighty Current publishing house to go missing, as they walk towards China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong. Photo: AFP

Headline News did not show a clip of the said video either, but quoted Lee in his alleged new letter, saying he was “bothered” that Hongkongers are staging a protest and that he “did not understand what benefit will they get out of doing so”.

The five people – Lee Bo, Gui Minhai, Lui Por, Cheung Ji-ping and Lam Wing-kei – have separately gone missing since October, with the latest incident involving Lee. He was last seen in Mighty Current’s Chai Wan warehouse on December 30.

All five are shareholders or staff of Causeway Bay Books.

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1899705/new-claim-lee-bo-sent-video-and-letter-his-wife-saying-his