China: 3 missing booksellers jailed

HONG KONG — Mainland Chinese authorities confirmed that they’ve detained three missing Hong Kong booksellers for an investigation into unspecified criminal activity, shedding more light on a case that’s gripped residents with fear that Beijing is tightening its hold on the city.

Hong Kong police said late Thursday that they were told by police in neighboring Guangdong province about the men, who are among five people to have vanished in recent months.

The five are linked to a publishing house specializing in politically sensitive titles banned on the mainland.

The five are associated with publishing firm Mighty Current Media and its retail outlet Causeway Bay bookshop.

The company’s books on political scandals and intrigue involving China’s communist leaders are popular with mainland Chinese visitors to Hong Kong.

The letter from Guangdong’s public security department was the first time that mainland authorities had acknowledged holding Lui Por, Cheung Chi Ping and Lam Wing Kee, who are shareholders or employees of the company.

It said the three are suspected of involvement in a case involving a person surnamed Gui, an apparent reference to Mighty Current publisher Gui Minhai.

The four vanished in October, but Gui resurfaced in January, making a tearful appearance on Chinese state TV to say he surrendered over a 12-year-old fatal drunken-driving case.

Hong Kong police also said they received a handwritten letter from the fifth missing person, editor Lee Bo, in which he purportedly rejected a request to meet with them.

Lee disappeared Dec. 30.

The three confirmed detainees are suspected of being “involved in illegal activities on the mainland,” Hong Kong police said, citing a letter from Guangdong Provincial Security Department’s Interpol liaison office.

“Criminal compulsory measures were imposed on them and they were under investigation,” it said. No details on the alleged crimes or their specific whereabouts were disclosed.

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