馬凱 馬建 巴丟草 香港言論自由「受制」的三件事

馬凱 馬建 巴丟草 香港言論自由「受制」的三件事

PROTEST

香港反對派團體聲援馬凱。AFP

近期,香港發生了多宗被指打擊言論、表達自由的事件,引發外界關注,包括英國《金融時報》亞洲新聞編輯馬凱(Victor Mallet)被拒入境、流亡中國作家馬建在文學節講座被主辦場地取消、居於澳洲的中國藝術家巴丟草的展覽,主辦單位稱因為中方威脅擔心「安全」問題取消。

種種事件在觀察人士眼中,突顯了香港在中國治下,言論、新聞、表達自由的空間進一步收窄,除了官方的控制外,民間也可能因此實行「自我審查」,令香港在資訊自由上和大陸城市愈來愈接近。

馬凱入境被拒

英國《金融時報》報道,亞洲新聞編輯馬凱(Victor Mallet)周四(8日)嘗試以旅客身份入境,但被入境人員盤問幾小時,最終被拒入境。

馬凱工作簽證申請上個月被拒,相信與他所屬的外國記者會曾經邀請「港獨」團體「民族黨」召集人陳浩天演講有關,之後他曾經以旅客身份短暫入境香港,但有別於其他旅客,他只是獲批在香港7天。

中港政府批評,外國記者會不應該「提供平台宣揚港獨」。「民族黨」被香港政府視為「非法社團」,陳浩天就政府決定提出上訴。

《金融時報》表示,沒有就馬凱工作簽證申請被拒收到任何解釋,已就決定提出上訴。外國記者會再次要求當局解釋原因,形容這種制裁「不合比例」。

香港入境處表示不評論個別個案,並指每宗個案都會根據法例和政策,經過充分考慮後決定是否批准入境。保安局局長李家超亦拒絶評論事件,但認為與言論自由無關,強調立法會早前亦就相關案件作辯論,又指每年都有不批准入境的個案,形容對入境處是正常事情。

香港民主派立法會議員聯署發表聲明,稱對事件極度震驚和憤怒,批評香港政府已成為「北京傀儡政府」,予以最強烈的抗議及譴責。聲明指,香港政府進一步箝制新聞自由、言論自由,令人齒冷,會進一步打擊香港作為國際城市的地位,尤其會令外國投資者卻步。

香港眾志秘書長黃之鋒認為被拒簽證事件本身已經是「荒謬」,今次連入境也不行,是「獨裁政權審查反對聲音」的舉措。

馬凱(圖右)

馬凱(圖右)簽證續期申請。香港外國記者會早前邀請香港民族黨「召集人」陳浩天發表演講,引起中國和香港政府不滿。圖片版權AFP

 

香港建制派新民黨立法會議員葉劉淑儀認為,馬凱再次去香港是為了測試香港的底線,了解自己是否是不受歡迎人物。她稱,馬凱曾為「鼓吹分裂國家的人士提供平台」,若港府不想香港「繼續成為別人的政治戰場」的話,入境處今次的決定是合理。

她認為,不同地方的入境部門都可以作出判斷,估計訪客到訪的目的,只要有合理懷疑到訪的目的不是真正旅客,都可以拒絶入境要求。香港民建聯立法會議員陳克勤認為,馬凱訪港的目的是為了將事件政治化,估計馬凱來港不是做一個旅客所要做的事,「而是會作出傷害一國兩制和違反基本法的行為」。

馬建講座被取消

同一天,移居英國的中國流亡作家馬建原本計劃出席香港國際文學節的講座,但遭到香港賽馬會屬下的藝術場地「大館」取消,要另覓場地舉行。《金融時報》是香港國際文學節的媒體伙伴。

有「中國奧威爾」之稱的馬建,推出新書名為《中國夢》,以故事形式諷刺當下中國的時政。據台灣中央社報道,這本書無法在香港出版,因為書中批評中國領導層,今次新書分享只是英文譯本。

「大館」總監簡寧天表示,不願意見到大館成為任何個人「促使其政治利益」的平台,所以要求主辦單位轉場。

馬建回應批評這是審查,「大館」不應該動用權力干涉文學藝術。

香港記者協會發聲明,表示對「大館」取消馬建講座的事件極度關注,指繼藝術家巴丟草畫展早前因安全理由被取消後,再次發生同類事件,憂慮本港的言論自由進一步受壓。記協亦重申,反對任何人士、團體、或政府以任何形式威脅表達及言論自由。

巴丟草取消展覽

居於澳洲的中國藝術家巴丟草原本本月會在「大館」舉行展覽。主辦單位單方面稱,收到「中國當局的威脅」,擔心巴丟草的人身安全,所以取消活動,但並不知道威脅的具體內容。

這個名為「共歌」的展覽由香港英文網上媒體Hong Kong Free Press(HKFP)、無國界記者及國際特赦組織主辦,是「言論自由周」的一項活動。

巴丟草以漫畫諷刺中國時政,經常直接批評中國的領導人。

他接受HKFP訪問時表示,自己擔心參加活動會「被擄走」,所以不會親身前往香港。他形容自己是「懦夫」,不是如英雄般勇敢,無法與其他異見人士或藝術家般可以公開地做事。

「我想我們在見證香港步向死亡,」他在訪問中說。

俄羅斯反建制團體暴動小貓(Pussy Riot)原本會出席巴丟草展覽的開幕禮,但得悉活動取消後到大館抗議。俄羅斯反建制團體暴動小貓(Pussy Riot)原本會出席巴丟草展覽的開幕禮,但得悉活動取消後到大館抗議。圖片版權BBC CHINESE
 

聯合國人權理事會早前就中國人權狀況,進行5年一度的普遍定期審議,會上12個國家代表對香港人權狀況表達關注,英國要求中國按照中英聯合聲明保障香港自由;澳洲要求中國堅守香港「一國兩制」;法國要求中國保香障港人權自由,勿令公民無端失蹤;加拿大要求中國給予香港人無篩選的參選權等等。

香港政務司司長張建宗對此回應稱,香港在「一國兩制」之下享有高度自治,基本權利和自由都受到基本法保障,外界關注香港一些人權狀況是不必要、毫無根據和不成立的,是出於「誤解」和對香港真實情況「缺乏了解」所致。他又說,港府維護新聞自由,不會對媒體作任何審查。

中國外交部發言人華春瑩7日在例行記者會上表示,中國政府高度重視此次審議,但她強調,中方願在人權問題上,本著負責任和建設性的態度與各國加強交流、共同進步,但堅決反對和拒絶極少數人充滿政治偏見和惡意無理的指責。

BBC中文網 /2018/11/9

China allows Swedish doctor to see detained publisher: Sweden

China allows Swedish doctor to see detained publisher: Sweden

A file picture taken on Jan 3, 2016, shows protesters holding up missing person notices of five Hong Kong-based booksellers as they walk towards China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong.
A file picture taken on Jan 3, 2016, shows protesters holding up missing person notices of five Hong Kong-based booksellers as they walk towards China’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong.PHOTO: AFP

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – China has allowed a Swedish doctor to examine publisher Gui Minhai, a Chinese-born Swede who vanished into Chinese custody in January in murky circumstances for the second time, Sweden said Monday (Aug 13).

“Swedish medical personnel have on Monday, August 13, been able to carry out a visit with detained Swedish citizen Gui Minhai. This is welcome,” Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in a statement.

Gui was one of five Hong Kong-based booksellers – known for publishing gossipy titles about Chinese political leaders – who disappeared in 2015 and resurfaced in mainland China.

He was released in October 2017, but was arrested on a train to Beijing in January while travelling with two Swedish diplomats.

He was reportedly en route to see a Swedish specialist over fears he had the neurological disease ALS.

Wallstrom, who provided no details about Gui’s condition or Monday’s medical visit, reiterated Sweden’s call for him to be freed.

“Gui Minhai must be released and be allowed to reunite with his family,” she said.

Chinese-born Swede publisher Gui Minhai had vanished into Chinese custody in January 2018 under murky circumstances for the second time.
 

She said Sweden was continuing its “intensive work” in the matter, and said the medical visit would be “followed up in several different ways”.

Gui, 54, first disappeared in 2015 while on holiday in Thailand.

He eventually surfaced at an undisclosed location in China, confessing to involvement in a fatal traffic accident and smuggling illegal books into the mainland.

Chinese authorities declared they had released him in October 2017 but his daughter Angela Gui told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the time that he was under “loose house arrest” in Ningbo.

After his second disappearance into police custody in January, Gui appeared in a video interview in February confessing to wrongdoing and accusing his adopted country Sweden of manipulating him like a “chess piece”.

It was unclear whether that statement was made under duress, but video of his confession showed him flanked by two police officers. A close friend said the remarks were “not to be believed”.

The Chinese embassy in Sweden said in February that Gui was being held in a detention centre in the city.

轉引自南華早報/2018/8/13

林榮基先生於2月13日離台返港

銅鑼灣書店事件當事人之一的林榮基先生,結束了七天訪台行程,於今日(2月13日)下午離台返港,從特別開闢的專用道出境。

林榮基先生在台灣警方陪同下,於今日(2月13日)下午五點四十分進入桃園機場海關準備出境。孟浪攝

貝嶺攝

林榮基先生進入一間特別安排的休息室等待撘機離境情景,他正在翻閱台灣報紙。孟浪攝

獨立中文筆會會長貝嶺、中國作家孟浪及台灣唐山書店負責人陳隆昊就負責接待林榮基訪臺發聲明

【台灣《聯合報》2月7日報導】曾遭中軟禁 林榮基來台 唐山老闆接待: 私人行程

(聯合報記者何定照╱即時報導)

香港銅鑼灣書店前店長林榮基,今日到台灣出席台北國際書展,引起矚目。負責接待林榮基的獨立中文筆會會長貝嶺、中國作家孟浪及台灣唐山書店負責人陳隆昊今發聲明表示,林榮基來台是純粹私人行程,不會安排任何官方拜訪。

銅鑼灣書店以販售中國禁書聞名,林榮基前年10月在深圳遭中國政府綁架拘押,去年6月返港後揭露遭「中央專案組」軟禁在寧波。

貝嶺、孟浪及陳隆昊聲明全文如下:

我們歡迎前銅鑼灣書店林榮基先生這次來台參觀國際書展。眾所周知受數位出版銷售的影響,近年來實體書店的營運狀況日益艱困。基於同理心與同行之誼,經熱心朋友的介紹,我們決定接待林先生,在他逗留台北期間,略盡地主之誼,帶他參觀訪問台北國際書展及台北的書店。我們了解林先生曾因眾所週知的事件獲國際媒體關注,所以我們定調這次訪台完全是私人行程,只有這樣,林先生才能自由、隨意的四處走走,到處看看,他上次的台灣行已是十幾年前的事了。

也因此我們發佈了這個小小的聲明,希望媒體朋友及關注林先生的友人能給予林先生一定程度的私人空間,從而有一個美好的台灣之旅。

此外,我們也藉此提出聲明:

1. 我們歡迎來自全世界書店的經營者,到台灣參加今年度的書展,大家互相學習,互相交換想法及意見。

2. 無意識形態及無國界的閱讀,是我們書店經營者的理想與目標,這也是大家所應珍惜的。

3. 本次林先生的到訪是純粹的私人行程,不會安排任何官方拜訪。

4. 林先生訪台期間,我們也不會有任何形式的記者會。

聲明者:貝嶺、孟浪、陳隆昊

中央通訊社2017年2月7日報導:港銅鑼灣書店林榮基 低調訪台出席書展

 
 
香港銅鑼灣書店店長林榮基(左)7日受邀來台,並將 參加2017年台北國際書展,但不會安排官方拜訪與任何 形式的記者會。圖為林榮基抵台後在下榻的旅館與獨立 中文筆會會長貝嶺(右)會面。 (貝嶺提供) 中央社 106年2月7日

 

(中央社記者繆宗翰台北7日電)香港銅鑼灣書店店長林榮基今天受邀來台,並將參加2017年台北國際書展,但不會安排官方拜訪與任何形式的記者會。

獨立中文筆會會長貝嶺、中國大陸作家孟浪、唐山書店負責人陳隆昊這次負責在台灣接待林榮基。

他們今天發表聲明表示,林榮基曾因銅鑼灣書店事件事件受到媒體關注,因此林榮基訪台純屬私人行程,不會安排任何官方拜訪,也不會有任何形式的記者會。

香港銅鑼灣書店5名人員自2015年底失蹤多時,後證實遭廣東警方扣押。外界質疑大陸警方「跨境執法」,違反「一國兩制」,此舉恐與該書店出版大陸國家主席習近平情史一事有關。

被拘人員自2016年3月起陸續被釋放返港。香港民主派更在同年6月發起遊行,聲援自中國大陸釋放返港的林榮基。

1060207

The Mysterious Disappearance of an Author and Publisher

The Mysterious Disappearance of an Author and Publisher

Bei Ling

Dr. Gui’s apartment complex in Pattaya, Thailand

Dr. Gui’s apartment complex in Pattaya, Thailand

October 2015, Apartment Building in Pattaya, Thailand

In Thailand’s Pattaya, a soft white, Baroque-style building towers over the nearby silver beaches. Outside the luxury apartment building, completed after years of construction, a golden Buddha stands in silence. This neighborhood, where all is protected under 24-hour security, seems peaceful and pure, like Shangri-la. Dr. Gui Minhai,[1] known as Ah-hai, kept residence on the seventeenth floor, facing south toward the Gulf of Thailand. Gazing out from its three seaward arching balconies, the view is unobstructed, with water extending as far as the eye can see. From time to time, this mysterious Chinese author and Hong Kong publisher would stay here for a spell, leaving the clamour of Hong Kong politics and business far behind him. Hiding here alone, he would spend his days writing and compiling books while remotely managing the Hong Kong publishing, distribution, and bookstore empire he gradually built over ten years. In recent years, his wife living in Germany or his daughter studying in England would occasionally visit. Once in awhile, he’d invite his employees or his old poet friends to holiday here.

As in the past, Dr. Gui on October 6 flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok, where he spent a four-day layover. On October 10, he returned to his seaside condominium in Pattaya. In the afternoon of October 17, Dr. Gui drove back from picking up groceries in a t-shirt and shorts. Outside the apartment building, he pulled his groceries out of the car and handed them to the security guard. After exchanging a few words, he got back in his car and drove away.

The panoramic view inside Dr. Gui’s apartment in Pattaya

The panoramic view inside Dr. Gui’s apartment in Pattaya

November 2015, Hong Kong

In early November, two mutual friends of me and Dr. Gui from the United States and China informed me that Dr. Gui was missing. Attempts to contact him through email, skype, and phone returned no reply. This was unusual and alarming. There was evidence to corroborate these concerns–he hadn’t contacted the contractors renovating his apartment in Hong Kong to talk through the details of the renovation in more than 10 days. Moreover, on October 15, he said he’d be in Hong Kong at the end of the month to receive a friend visiting from Shanghai, but he never showed up.

On the evening of November 4, Wang Yiliang, an author friend living in Thailand forwarded me a short news story posted on Boxun, a Chinese news website based in the U.S., that read: “Hong Kong Publisher Gui Minhai (Dr. Gui) Suspected Kidnapped in Thailand.”

My heart pounding, I immediately sought out the source of this information. A Boxun reporter sent word that the information had been emailed anonymously, and that Dr. Gui was confirmed to be missing in Thailand.

It was already the middle of the night in Germany, but we could afford no delay in confirming this report with Dr. Gui’s family. I called his home in Düsseldorf, Germany, and his wife, a German citizen, answered. Most shocking to me was that she had no knowledge of what had transpired. In contrast to the alarming news I’d awoken her with, Dr. Gui’s wife stammered that it was not possible, it was simply not possible that he was missing, because “Ah-hai calls me regularly.” Even though her denial persisted, I could hear her voice trembling. I urged her to confirm the story with Dr. Gui as soon as possible.

The next day, afternoon in eastern America and evening in Germany, I called Dr. Gui’s wife yet again. She told me Dr. Gui had just called and emailed her, reporting he’s “safe and sound.” Dr. Gui told his wife it was not convenient to have contact with outsiders for now, as he had an urgent work matter to handle. I could tell by the tone of her voice that Dr. Gui’s reassurances had calmed her, but she seemed upset with both me and the media for “mistakenly spreading” the story of Dr. Gui’s disappearance in Thailand.

Thus, I believed the news report was made in error.

With this, I wrote the following note to Dr. Gui’s friend inquiring about his whereabouts:

“I just made another call. Dr. Gui’s wife said she just spoke with him, and that he’s perfectly fine! And thanks everyone. Please discard the police report. Thanks! xx

Sorry for the false alarm, everyone.

But, she said something really worrisome, so I may still bother you all yet.” (November 7)

But my trepidation was impossible to dismiss. I discussed the situation with Meng Liang,[2] a Hong Kong poet living in Taiwan and an old friend of Dr. Gui’s. He was sharp, pointing out similarities between Dr. Gui’s case and that of Yiu Mantin, his former publishing house colleague and chief editor of Hong Kong’s Morningbell Press. Back when Yiu was preparing to publish exiled writer Yu Jie’s new book “Godfather of China Xi Jinping,” he was jailed in Shenzhen in October 2013 for illicitly pilfering industrial chemicals across borders. A year later, Yiu was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for “smuggling ordinary goods/items.” When Yiu was arrested, his family flatly refused to publish information about the situation, also reporting over and over again, “he’s fine.” During that time, Yiu’s wife might have been led to believe that privately seeking help from an intermediary in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference or the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong was the best way to get Mr. Yiu back to Hong Kong. From beginning to end, this process was delayed three months. With a cool head I considered the comparison, and after analyzing it with friends became frightened— only under his loss of freedom did Dr. Gui report his “safety.”

Dr. Gui could not have foreseen that the software WeChat, designed in China but freely used across the globe, has long provided the means for tracking individuals’ personal information and whereabouts. Through his communication on this platform, Dr. Gui may have unknowingly revealed his address in Thailand, the duration of his visit, and information about his friends.

But, where exactly was Dr. Gui? Where was it that “he’s fine”?

A Jolting Loss for Hong Kong: Three Employees Arrested in China

How peculiar! The week of Dr. Gui’s disappearance, two employees of Mighty Current publishing company and the manager of Hong Kong Causeway Bay Bookstore all disappeared without a trace.

Causeway Bay Bookstore is sandwiched in Hong Kong’s most bustling neighborhoods. A well-known second story bookstore, its facade is not big, but it is a must-stop destination for mainland tourists scoping out Chinese politics books that can’t be published on the Mainland. Last year, Dr. Gui and his colleagues Lv Bo, Lee Po, and Mr. Lee’s wife acquired this bookstore, and Lin Rongji served as the store’s manager.

Lv Bo: Mighty Current general manager

Computer last accessed: October 14.

Date of disappearance: October 15?

Location: Shenzhen. Recuperating at his wife’s family’s home.

Reason for disappearance: Unknown.

Zhang Zhiping: Mighty Current business manager

Computer last accessed: October 22.

Date of disappearance: October 24.

Location: Dongguan city, Guangdong province. More than ten military police took him at gunpoint. After that, all contact was lost.

Reason for disappearance: Unknown.

Lin Rongji: Causeway Bay Bookstore manager

Computer last accessed: October 23.

Date of Disappearance: October 24.

Location: Shenzhen?

Reason for disappearance: Unknown.

These frightening cases of successive disappearances rocked Hong Kong society, but even more so shocked us friends of Dr. Gui.

Where are the missing four? Where is Dr. Gui?

This “mysterious force” appeared to “allow” Dr. Gui to mislead us and trust in his safety. At the same time, the particular demands of “respecting the family’s decision” made us hesitate. 

On November 7, the day after Hong Kong’s Apple News reported his disappearance, Mr. Lin unexpectedly phoned his wife from Shenzhen, saying, “I’m quite safe, I’ll come back after a bit, please don’t fret.” After that, nothing.

 That same day, I wrote an open letter on November 7 to PEN members expressing the hope that we would no longer be misled.[3]

“Thus, regarding the matter at hand, we must not blindly trust what the family says. I only need Ah-hai to appear just once, to tell us just one thing–where is he? Is he free, or not? No matter if it’s just one sentence, as long as he tells us where he is, that’s the only important thing.

In the early stages, we were led to believe he was safe, and so didn’t have the strength of conviction to ask for help or call for support. Perhaps we missed the best time to save him. I simply could not believe, that while his employees and associates were detained in Shenzhen, he was somehow alright…

Today, Hong Kong’s Apple Daily reported Causeway Bay Bookstore manager Lin Rongji called his wife after being detained in Shenzhen–further proof of my suspicions.

Thinking it over, there is no way I believe Ah-hai is ok, and now, I want to convince his wife that I have come to this conclusion after lengthy consideration. Everyone, please do not lower your guard…”

There were too many precedents for us to ignore. From that point onward, we could not blindly trust what the families of the disappeared told us. Our operation could no longer be postponed.

I’d go as far as to hypothesize that the motive behind the mysterious force under whose duress Dr. Gui had fallen, who detained the other three men, lay in amassing evidence of Dr. Gui’s so-called “crimes.”

Since Bangkok is a place to flee for Chinese applying for political asylum status with the United Nations, I wrote a letter on October 28 to friends in Thailand, warning them:

“Friends and PEN members in Thailand and Bangkok, please be aware… you must keep a low profile, limit the number of people you contact to three per day, and try not to share information on WeChat–by this you must abide, to avoid landing yourself in prison. Bear in mind, you are living under the rule of a post-coup militia government. If you stay in Thailand, your rights are not guaranteed and it will be easier to get arrested. Please, be vigilant!”

Rereading the letter, there was a sense of dark foreshadowing within.

An Important Breakthrough: The First Piece of the Puzzle

Aside from Dr. Gui, there were no other ethnic Chinese living in this seaside apartment building. While news of the disappearance of Dr. Gui–an ethnic Chinese and Swedish citizen–caused an uproar in the Chinese-speaking world and in the media, not a word about it could be heard in Pattaya. The apartment building’s property management office had long been utterly puzzled by Dr. Gui’s sudden disappearance and the four mysterious visitors who subsequently came to Dr. Gui’s apartment.

Three weeks had already passed since Dr. Gui’s disappearance. Not only had Thai police not yet opened an investigation, but his family hadn’t filed a report either. With no trail to follow, I and several friends of Dr. Gui formed a team to “break the case.” We anxiously searched for him, relying on one piece of information at a time, piecing together the puzzle. We made countless phone calls, analyzed the case day in and day out, approaching the case calmly and rationally. My team and I discussed the situation, making plans for every possible outcome. Finally, we decided to go directly to Dr. Gui’s apartment building in Pattaya to investigate.

On November 9, we made an important breakthrough in Dr. Gui’s case. Through a Chinese friend who cannot be named, Li Fang, a Chinese political refugee in Finland, ascertained the actual address of Dr. Gui’s apartment building. Subsequently, two ethnic Chinese friends in Thailand whose names cannot be divulged went to Dr. Gui’s residence in Pattaya, where they inquired about their friend’s whereabouts. Our ethnic Chinese friend spoke Thai fluently, and was able to communicate fluidly in Thai with Ms. Mai, the property manager, thereby gaining the confidence of the building’s management office. Within a month, the two were able to procure complete video and photographic records of all entry to and exit from the building.

That day, I promptly wrote to my team:

“They’ve already found Dr. Gui’s apartment in Pattaya, and are confirming the circumstances of his departure; local friends in Thailand are providing assistance. Thanks xx, keep it up.” (November 10).

Following the Clues

On October 17 at 1:15pm, a young male appeared to be standing guard in the shade of a bus stop outside Dr. Gui’s apartment building. After several minutes, Dr. Gui is depicted driving his own car, white with license plate number 5870, to the apartment building exterior. He then took the groceries he’d just bought out of his car, and asked the building security guard to take it to his apartment. Immediately after, he got back in his car and left with the unidentified man.

This was the last sighting of Dr. Gui before his disappearance. From that moment on, he has not returned.

Video screenshot

Video screenshot from the garden outside Dr. Gui’s residential building: On the afternoon of October 17, Dr. Gui returned to the apartment building driving his own car after ordering take-out. Before going upstairs, he left immediately.

Screenshot from the apartment surveillance video

Screenshot from the apartment surveillance video: The man that Dr. Gui was seen leaving with on the afternoon of October 17.

Clearly, the mysterious force that took him had prior knowledge of his comings and goings. Perhaps he recognized this person, or maybe one of his so-called friends had introduced them?

This was not the only instance of interference; even more damning footage emerged.

In the afternoon on November 3, four mysterious men who appeared to have come from the casino underworld, with calm demeanors and sure in step, entered the promenade of Dr. Gui’s building. From analyzing and comparing the vocal movements of the four men in the video, it can be established that at least three of them spoke Mandarin Chinese. One man in red appeared to be the leader of this operation. Before entering the building, one man took a phone call. After they entered, Ms. Mai received a call from Dr. Gui. In English, Dr. Gui said the four men were his friends, and they could enter the building and stay the night at his apartment. After the call ended, the property manager asked the four men where Dr. Gui was. One man responded, Dr. Gui was gambling at a casino in Cambodia, and therefore wouldn’t be returning for awhile. After that, building security accompanied the four men in the elevator to the 17th floor, and opened his apartment to let them in. According to the building manager, before these four men left the apartment, they attempted to take Dr. Gui’s desktop computer with them, but the property manager refused.  Grudgingly, the they left without it.  

The panoramic view inside Dr. Gui’s apartment. H

The panoramic view inside Dr. Gui’s apartment. His desktop computer is still there.

It can be deduced from the time stamp on the surveillance video that they only lingered in Dr. Gui’s apartment for around 20 minutes. Obviously, they hadn’t planned to stay longFrom this it can be determined, in my analysis, that within nearly half an hour, the men likely took his Swedish passport and copied all the files on his computer, including his bank account information and even his emails.

After Dr. Gui disappeared

After Dr. Gui disappeared, on November 3, the four men who entered his apartment and attempted to take his computer.

Friends in Thailand also checked The visitor registry showed the men calling on Dr. Gui did not actually write in Thai, but rather used simplified Chinese to write a name: “He Wei” (何伟). Apparently, they are ethnically Chinese, sent there on a mission.

Screenshot of video footage

Screenshot of video footage from inside the apartment elevator: The four men who entered Dr. Gui’s apartment.

A man who entered Dr. Gui’s apartment.

Screenshot of video footage from inside the apartment elevator: A man who entered Dr. Gui’s apartment. The man wearing red is the ringleader.

Dr. Gui called again! After screenshots of the four men who entered Dr. Gui’s apartment were published in news media reports, Ms. Mai once more received a call from Dr. Gui on November 6. Ms. Mai asked him, “Where in the world are you? Your friends have been looking everywhere for you.” In a nervous tone, without revealing where he was, he responded that everything was alright, adding: “I’m with friends doing computer [sic].” Before he could disclose his whereabouts, he hung up.

“I’m with friends doing computer.” Was this a hint?

We continued our search through every channel possible. From Ms. Mai’s cell phone, we know Dr. Gui’s three phone calls were made over the internet from numbers in Egypt, Poland, and the Congo, but it is beyond our authority to investigate from which country he actually called.

Since this event transpired, Dr. Gui’s family members have still not reported his disappearance to the Thai police. As such, I tried to convince Dr. Gui’s wife to call Thai police in Pattaya from her home in Germany to report his disappearance. As she failed to do so, my friend Li Fang asked whether he could use my name and a friend’s identity to get the property manager to report Dr. Gui’s disappearance to the Thai police. Doing so would prevent strangers from entering his apartment or even taking his computer.  I agreed, and the report was filed.

Police report form

Police report form

Dr. Gui and his wife spoke on the phone every seven to ten days; with such frequent contact, the tone of his voice was not peculiar. Up until November 15, I was still in phone contact with Dr. Gui’s wife. She always told me, “He’s just fine!” The most recent time we spoke, I asked her directly: “Where is Dr. Gui at this moment?” “He’s in Thailand!” Because she held onto this conviction, I suggested to her at once: “When Dr. Gui calls next, please express that you’ll be flying to Thailand to see him in a couple days, and ask if he would fly to the Bangkok airport to meet you. This is the only way to test whether Dr. Gui is actually in Thailand, whether or not he is free.” She thought this course of action was reasonable, and thus approved of my suggestion.[4]

Several days later, Dr. Gui’s wife told a mutual German friend of ours that she had complied with my suggestion. She used WeChat to mention to Dr. Gui she’d be flying to Thailand to visit and asked him to go to the airport in Bangkok to meet her. Dr. Gui immediately responded, saying he would be unable to meet her and asking her not to fly to Thailand. As I saw it, this was tantamount to Dr. Gui covertly telling his wife that he was no longer free, or perhaps this suggested Dr. Gui had already been taken out of Thailand.

Where was Dr. Gui, after all? Still in Thailand, or already taken into custody back to another country? How exactly was he taken back to China?

I’m still searching.

Has Dr. Gui Really Already Been Returned to China?

On November 10, several foreign Chinese-language media outlets published a news story that caught my attention, a story that I couldn’t help but associate with Dr. Gui’s disappearance. The story was published in official Chinese media:

“On November 9, under the direction of the Ministry of Public Security, 282 police chartered four Chinese civil aviation planes to go abroad. They deported 254 individuals in Indonesia and Cambodia suspected of committing fraud back to China.”[5](Boxun news portal)

This news story aroused my suspicion:

1.“On November 9, under the direction of the Ministry of Public Security, 282 police” went in-person to Cambodia and Indonesia. As such, Chinese police officials must have arrived first in Indonesia and Cambodia to discuss the details of the operation. Is it possible they could have taken a detour to Thailand to conveniently handle other cases?

2.“…chartered four Chinese civil aviation planes to deport 254 individuals in Indonesia and Cambodia suspected of committing blackmail back to China.” This instance of cross-border cooperation with China, transferring the suspected criminals back to China, is between only the Cambodian and Indonesian governments, not the Thai government.

As Thailand and Cambodia share a border, I instinctively wondered: if Dr. Gui had already been kidnapped back to Cambodia, would he have been thrown in among the other 254 suspected criminals under similar charges and taken back to China?

With this, I phoned my friend in Bangkok who confirmed that it only takes around two hours to drive from Pattaya to Poipet, the casino town straddling the borders of Cambodia and Thailand. In fact, crossing the border into Cambodia is quite easy. Even without a passport, you can directly enter the border casino in Poipet through an acquaintance there. Once inside, you’re already in Cambodia. If you want to continue from the casino to do some sightseeing at the world-famous Angkor Wat, with its imposing architecture and meticulous reliefs, driving a car is also straightforward. With a passport, it’s more convenient. One need only have one’s passport stamped when exiting Thai customs and crossing the Cambodian border. For many years, guests traveling from Thailand to the Thai-Cambodia casino or to Cambodian tourist sites have used these channels to travel between the two countries. If one without a passport wants to go back to Thailand from Angkor Wat, the casino can arrange to take him.

For these reasons, it was technically feasible that Dr. Gui was escorted from Thailand to Cambodia and then detained in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh with the group of suspected criminals for transfer back to China.

A Mobile Phone Left Behind in a Taxi

After the four mysterious men left Dr. Gui’s apartment building, they called a taxi outside the building’s gates and headed east toward Thai border town Poipet. While several of them haggled over the taxi fare, one man called the manager of Dr. Gui’s apartment building, asking him to turn off the air conditioning in Dr. Gui’s apartment as they’d forgotten to do so. Be it intentionally or unintentionally, the mobile phone used to call the building was unexpectedly left behind in the taxi. By browsing the phone’s call record, the driver was easily able to confirm that the last call was placed to Dr. Gui’s apartment building management office looking for lost property. Only then did Ms. Mai know that these four mysterious men were headed to the Thailand-Cambodia border town Poipet.

The exit strategy these four men took after leaving Dr. Gui’s apartment was not sufficiently professional. The recovered mobile phone not only divulged their direction, but even more so corroborates my own inferences.

Dr. Gui’s daughter, who goes to school in England, only learned of her father’s disappearance in Thailand on November 9–two weeks after he went missing–when Mr. Li, Dr. Gui’s associate at the Hong Kong publishing company, told her. After the disbelief and sorrow, she accepted interview requests from British and Swedish media, urgently connected with the Swedish government, and reported the case to the Swedish police, therefore making public her search for her father.

Two days later, media reported that she, who’d not heard word from her father for a long time, received a short English-language letter he’d written over Skype. Its contents were baffling and enigmatic, as Dr. Gui’s daughter neither requested money from nor lent money to her father recently:

“Hi, XXX, I have put in 30,000 HKD in your account in HK, and hope you be fine with everything [sic].” (November 11)

Without a doubt, the mysterious force that held control over Dr. Gui had sanctioned his writing this letter.

Five days later, Dr. Gui’s daughter received the $30,000 HKD on schedule through a Hong Kong bank. In the last month since Dr. Gui’s disappearance, this was the only time he had written and remitted funds to his daughter. In my view, the mysterious force allowed Dr. Gui to write and send money to his daughter because she had been calling for help searching for him in international media; this force wanted to convince her of his “safety” so she would not continue publicizing her search.

On November 12, a BBC reporter called Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inquire whether the Swedish government was aware of Dr. Gui’s disappearance from Thailand. The Ministry responded they had already learned of this news, and indicated the government was launching an investigation into Dr. Gui’s disappearance.

On November 17, one month after Dr. Gui’s disappearance, the International PEN Center[6] and the International Publishers Association jointly issued a statement of strong concern regarding the disappearance of this Chinese author and publisher.

On November 20, the Swedish police formally contacted Dr. Gui’s family to notify them they were dispatching police to Thailand to seek out the cooperation of Thai police in order to ascertain Dr. Gui’s whereabouts.

1984, Beijing

I’ve been an acquaintance of Dr. Gui’s for more than 30 years.

Our friendship can be traced back to Beijing in 1984, where this young poet was known by his pen name, “Ah-hai.”

On one Beijing afternoon in 1984, a certain chilliness had not yet dissipated from the early spring air. At Beijing Industrial University (now known as Beijing Institute of Technology), I had burrowed into my narrow, single-room, second floor apartment when someone–ignoring the doorbell–knocked on my door, asking in Beijing-speak with a hint of Ningbo accent, “Is Bei Ling there?” I opened the door to find a round-faced young man, cigarette smoke still idling in his mouth. This was how he serendipitously found me. He pulled out a mimeograph print of a long poem and introduced himself: “Ah-hai, student in the History Department at Peking University, composer of modern poetry.”

The Iron Curtain had already been lifted by that time, but authoritarian control was still severe. During this period, the ban on books was lifted, and “rebellious” Western literature and ideology bubbled forth like floodwater. At the time, literature became in vogue and poetry writing experienced a renaissance. Poetry served as a kind of business card for young literary types, who produced poems as a job applicant produces a resume. In those days, homes rarely had telephones, so to meet someone one would have to devise a way to seek out his address and go directly to his front door. If the person was there, you’d meet him; if not, you’d leave a note and try again another day. I don’t know how many doors Dr. Gui knocked on. In terms of poetry writing, contacts in underground poetry circles, and connections with the underground poetry community, I ranked half-a-generation ahead of Dr. Gui.

Poet Gui Minhai in the 1980s

Poet Gui Minhai in the 1980s

Both our universities were located in the Western neighborhoods of Beijing, such that Dr. Gui could bike from Peking University to my small, single occupancy apartment at Beijing Industrial University within half an hour. From 1984 to 1985, he would visit my place practically every day. The company I kept at the time was mixed; perhaps he only came to direct his efforts at the motley crew that gathered in my apartment. He was shy, but not reserved, and his high spirits churned out rich discussions, all with disregard for the opinions of his big shot professors. He was heavily dependent on tobacco, as was I, though his ferocity for smoking could not be matched–he’d smoke one cigarette after the other, filling my tiny apartment with clouds of thick smoke. Through me, he made some poet and artist friends outside his circle at school. Sometimes, I’d bring him along on long car rides into the city, or take him to rest for a bit at a residence for poets and painters in the Sanlihe residential area, or ask him to tag along to a gathering of underground poets. With the solemnity of a memorial service, poets of cheerful or bright poems would one after the other get into character at those gatherings.

On weekend nights, I’d take him to parties held at the residences of Western diplomats around Sanlitun or Jianguomen. We’d have to park our bikes in the lot outside the Jianguomen “Friendship Store.”[7] Then, outside the storefront we’d change into foreign clothes–nothing more than cotton Texwood jeans, distressed and faded from so many washings, or brand-new, tight-fitting Levi’s, still indigo blue. We’d top the outfits off with a brand name red down jacket or a t-shirt, passing for overseas Chinese, and call our diplomat friends from a phone booth to let us inside.  After ten minutes, they’d pick us up outside the storefront in a car, and after three or four turns, we’d be inside the diplomatic residence compound. When our car passed through security, plainclothes police and soldiers with guns sized us up with eagle eyes, but I played it cool. Dr. Gui, on the other hand, held his breath–that was a time when “Chinese or dogs [were] not allowed” to enter diplomatic residence compounds. Infiltrating the foreigner’s home amid the merriment set to deafening rock’n’roll and free, unlimited wine and beer is a memory of our 1980s youth that I share with Dr. Gui.

After graduating in history from Peking University, Dr. Gui stayed in Beijing, where he was assigned by the government to serve as assistant editor and editor of the state-run People’s Education Publishing House from 1985 to 1988. Dr. Gui took specialty training in editing, during which time he penned his own book, titled A Guide to Twentieth Century Western Cultural History (1988). To us underground writers, the 1980s were a decade spent ravenously learning about Western culture and reading Western literature. I admired Dr. Gui for getting a government publishing house to publish a book introducing Western cultural history, and gained a new level of respect for him.

Around 1989, we both left China, and fell out of contact. In my capacity as a poet and editor, I visited the United States as a literature fellow, while Dr. Gui and his wife at the time (now divorced) left for Göteborgs, Sweden. He started graduate study at the University of Goteborgs (Göteborgs universitet). In 1989, the June 4 Tiananmen Square student movement and subsequent government massacre shocked the world. This massacre was a turning point both in China’s modern history as well as in the lives of individuals of my generation.

In 1990, Dr. Gui became a Swedish citizen. In 1994, his daughter was born in Göteborgs. Because her parents were constantly by her side with care and concern, she told me, she has fond memories of her childhood.

A moving photograph

A moving photograph–Dr. Gui and his daughter in Göteborgs

From 2000 to 2005, Dr. Gui went back to live in China, but I have no idea what what his life like during this period. The year he went back, in late August, I was imprisoned for “illegal publication” of my literary magazine, but was freed through the hard work of the U.S. State Department. After being deported to the United States, I began my life and career in exile. Dr. Gui and I passed so close in China we nearly brushed shoulders.

In 2005, Dr. Gui married his current wife, and together they left China, first immigrating to Berlin before settling down in central Germany.

Nineteen Years Apart

The next time I saw Dr. Gui was February 2007 in Hong Kong, where the International PEN Center’s Asia-Pacific regional conference, called “Chinese World of Authors–Literary Exchange,” was being hosted, marking only the second time since International PEN’s inaugural conference in 1921 that it was held in the Asia Pacific. In total, more than one hundred authors and PEN members from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Europe participated. It was truly a long-awaited reunion for us. I noticed his dignified appearance and enlarged figure. In disbelief, I blurted out: “Ah-hai, how did this fellow get taller AND stronger? I nearly didn’t recognize you.” With a cigarette still in hand, he still spouted smoke wherever he went. But the capable and experienced man whom I met at the conference had long ago left behind that baby-faced young poet.

After a short three days, we had amassed a deeper understanding of each other’s lives. I knew he had become Gui Minhai, PhD., but he’d also published several academic works and prose anthologies. It was also that year that I read a Chinese-language translation of a book he’d sent me, The Stories Around the Swedism (2005, United Authors Publishing House)–his doctoral thesis completed at the University of Göteborgs.

At the October 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair, we met again, and together served as panelists at the Frankfurt, Germany headquarters of the International Society for Human Rights (IGFM).

Bei Ling and Ah-Hai

Bei Ling and Ah-Hai at the forum discussion at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2009 [Photo: Zhong Weiguang]

A Prolific Politics Author with a Secret Identity

Starting in 2006, Dr. Gui discontinued writing academic works on comparative East-West history and producing prose,[8] gradually transitioning into a political writer. He focused on the high-level inner-workings of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sexual relationships of CCP officials, and family histories of CCP leadership. He’d travel between Germany and Hong Kong every year, following the trends in modern Chinese politics from nearby.

From 2006 to 2013, he became an apprentice and intimate friend of Liu Dawen, chief editor of noted Hong Kong political culture magazine Front Line, head of XiaFeiEr publishing company, and former literary critic. Dr. Gui even had a desk at the company where he could go anytime to write or edit books. Since he already understood how Hong Kong’s publishing industry operated, he took the initiative to help Liu Dawen’s wife evaluate books, or dig them out from the warehouse. By their example, Dr. Gui became very familiar with the workings of the book publishing industry in Hong Kong.

Dim Sum restaurants are optimal for entertaining visitors to Hong Kong or family and spreading gossip, and Dr. Gui would would often invite Mainland guests there to drink and eat. Between courses, Dr. Gui listened as his Mainland guests talked nonstop, blabbering with conviction about high-level CCP relationships, internal power struggles, and erotic anecdotes, thereby collecting much first-hand information. Dr. Gui was exceptionally energetic, mentally writing and compiling books day and night. He had a keen sense for finding inside stories of high-level politics, fully utilizing the analysis, research, annotation, material sourcing, and evidence gathering skills he’d learned in the history departments at Peking University and Göteborgs University. He dashed his pen across paper, writing at least one book a month and compiling more than ten books in a year. Within only a few years, he became known as a prolific publisher in the world of banned political books.

According to information leaked in Hong Kong publishing circles, Dr. Gui published a book about Wang Guangmei,[9] wife of former PRC Chairman Liu Shaoqi,[10] in 2008 titled Autobiography of Wang Guangmei. But in March 2009, Wang’s daughter Liu Sida told a Hong Kong reporter that the book’s contents were pieced together from essays her mother had written while living as well as excerpts from interviews with reporters. According to her, the book had not changed third-person interviews into a first-person “autobiography.” Her initial response to the book was incredulous: “The things written on the cover are just not possible, we want to take legal action to determine whose fault this is, but several lawyers we consulted said it would be too hard to sue… why are people talking rubbish, concocting stories, telling slanderous lies? Publishing such a false autobiography, full of gossip and vulgarities? How is it that in a place like Hong Kong, where freedom and democracy are so strong, there is no way to investigate?”[11]

Dr. Gui wrote many books, but never used “Ah-hai,” instead using different names to publish. Though there was nothing he and his friends didn’t talk about together, he never publicly acknowledged which books he’d written. As such, friends never had the access to confirm which he’d written and which he’d edited. Just like that, he became an invisible author.

The Emergence of a Non-Native Hong Kong Publisher

It was not Dr. Gui’s only ambition to become a prolific but secret political gossip writer; he also wanted to start his own business. He’d already had a publishing house and run a distribution company, but at that time he still wanted to buy a print shop to print books. He aspired to establish a top-to-bottom publishing empire in Hong Kong. I saw these ambitions of his, and I understand them.

In 2007, Dr. Gui and Wang Jie (pen name: Chu Jin), a venerable scholar and legal translator, jointly established United Authors Publishing House. Within three years, they published 8 books. Excluding the best-seller Mistresses of the Chinese Communist Party; Secrets of Wives of CCP Officials; Women of the Shanghai Gang, which made a small profit; and QingBangWuGuo–In the Words of Jiang Zemin, the other four books were not profitable. Two literature books didn’t sell more than 100 copies, a cruel loss. The two did not go into business together again, and the publishing house did not put out any more books.

Starting in 2011, Dr. Gui established several publishing houses, including North Canal (Bei Yun He), New Vision (Xin Shi Jie), Triangle (San Jiao Di), Double Abundance (Shuang Feng), Floating Duckweed (Piao Ping), Biao Di, Breadth (Guang Du), and others. He’d alternate publishing houses, one after the other publishing banned Chinese political books. After living and publishing in Hong Kong for an extended period, Dr. Gui not only wrote or compiled books, but also had many politics writers publish with him.

Dr. Gui’s publishing houses published 4 or 5 books a month, about 50 books a year, accounting for one-third the total number of banned Chinese political publications published in Hong Kong each year. In 2013, the infamous Bo Xilai[12]scandal, involving murder and trysts, broke around the world, leaving millions and millions of Chinese in hungry suspense. That was the perfect opportunity for Dr. Gui’s publishing house. According to my rough calculation, of the hundreds of books published on Bo Xilai in Hong Kong during that time, nearly half were published by Dr. Gui’s publishing houses. According to the Guardian, one recent book published by Dr. Gui, titled The Collapse of Xi Jinping in 2017, looked at the scandal’s of China’s president.

In 2013, Dr. Gui, Lee Po, and Lv Bo, a Hong Kong expert in publishing banned Chinese politics books, jointly founded the Hong Kong Giant Dragon (Ju Long) publishing company, and started self-distributing. After decreasing the number of banned Chinese politics books they published, their distribution profits were drained.

In 2014, the three together pooled $300,000 HKD to buy Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Bookstore, for which business had been bad and which had been operating at a loss, with a month’s rent costing nearly $400,000 HKD. The bookstore primarily sold banned Chinese politics books. To date, Causeway Bay Bookstore is considered to have the most comprehensive collection to enter into the Hong Kong publishing world.

In the last five years, Dr. Gui has already become one of the most important publishers of salacious Chinese politics books in Hong Kong. In addition to Dr. Gui, publishers including Mirror Books,[13] XiaFeiEr Publishing[14] including its subsidiary Global Industry  Publishing Company (Huan qiu shi ye (Xianggang) gong si)), New Century Press,[15] and Open Books[16] have together served as the forces behind the banned Chinese politics book publishing world in Hong Kong.

Prospects for Press Freedom in Hong Kong

With a population of more than 7 million, Hong Kong enjoys freedoms of speech and press. The proliferation of freedom of information there is the only such example in the entire People’s Republic of China. As Hong Kong faces an enormous mainland readership market of 1.3 billion, half the books published in Hong Kong are political books that cannot be published in China. Among them are books where the facts are a matter of historical record, with complete and accurate evidence, that are able to endure Mainland bans. There are also books based on hearsay with sensationalized stories that would make one’s hair stand straight, stories of internal power struggles at high levels of the CCP, the rise and fall of CCP factions, and inside stories of high-level political emergencies in the CCP. Not to mention licentious page-turners featuring accounts of the mistresses and sexual encounters of high-level officials. These kinds of books, banned in China, are commonly found in Hong Kong bookstores, newsstands, and airports. A new book hits the market almost every day, sometimes becoming a bestseller. Banned publication of political books is the only glaring outlier in the publishing industry in a Hong Kong with press freedom. The biggest purchasers of these books–numbering more than one million people a month, and nearly 20 million each year–are Mainland tourists, or travelers exiting or transferring from China through Hong Kong. China, where information is censored and there is no grassroots independent media or freedom of press, is a publisher’s paradise. It has unlimited potential, attracting prolific authors and publishers such as Dr. Gui to immerse themselves in it. They very clearly recognize China isn’t just a place to make big money on a small investment through royalties and book sales. More so, it is a place where collecting source materials is difficult and the details are thrilling, like detective work. In the writing process, this kind of work yields tremendous spiritual stimulation.

The domain of banned Chinese politics books, with its secret authors, confidential sources, and thrilling revelations, is both fearful and highly competitive for publishers. Not only are there unwritten rules and regulations for publishing houses in this field, but also taboos. For example, ordinarily Chinese political books not signed with the author’s real name, or without a publicly known pen name, with content lacking in reliability, would not be published. Nor would books about the current CCP general secretary or chairman or the private lives of their families be published, in order to protect the publisher’s life. In recent years, for example, He Pin, director of Mirror Books group’s main office, has not visited Hong Kong. Dr. Gui, on the other hand, has disregarded these unwritten rules, even challenging publishing taboos. Though he keeps a low profile, he pays no mind to the danger he is in. He spends three months every year living in Hong Kong. His status as a Swedish citizen served as a psychological safeguard in these circumstances.

A sense of mourning has overcome Hong Kong since Dr. Gui and his three colleagues were “disappeared” more than 40 days ago. Those in the world of Hong Kong’s banned Chinese politics books panic at the slightest move. The absolute freedoms of speech and press in Hong Kong are now in decline. Though press freedom exists there, the self-censorship imposed by publishing houses is even more restrictive. In a Hong Kong with no media to serve as watchdog, authors and publishers have to face the “consequences” each time they put out a new book. The spell of self-censorship has been cast upon the heads of all publishers of banned Chinese politics books. This is the state of “press freedom” in Hong Kong under China’s shadow.

Mr. Gui’s “disappearance” is, so far, the most terrifying outcome a Chinese publisher and author could encounter. The mysterious force that entrapped him did not merely want to prevent his continued publication of these Chinese politics books. This force didn’t only want to understand, what did he write? What they really want to know is: who are the authors of books he has published? Who are the sources that provided information to him? Who was frequently dealing with him over email? And what were they giving him?

The information on Dr. Gui’s computer was hacked, his email password compromised, his mail read. I fear that every author of one of those books, every person with whom he had electronic contact, every source who supplied him information, all will face uncertain consequences.

Conclusion

Dr. Gui was disappeared in Thailand. Looking at the present circumstances, the Thai government and police are responsible for executing the following investigations:

  1. Collecting fingerprints from inside Dr. Gui’s apartment in order to identify the four men who entered his apartment;
  2. Checking whether Thai customs has a record of Swedish citizen Gui Minhai leaving the country on October 17;
  3. Looking for the location of the car Dr. Gui was driving when he disappeared on October 17.

Dr. Gui is a genuine risk-taker in the publishing world, an atypical publisher who has taken off in the Hong Kong publishing world in recent years. Even more so, he is a master player in the fiercely competitive Hong Kong publishing industry who has broken the rules–written and unwritten–of the industry. He has an extraordinary sense of the appetite shared by millions and millions of potential Chinese readers for voyeuristic Party politics and the depraved acts of Party leaders. His success in flooding the Hong Kong publishing world with such works, and even his work’s abrupt halt now, have become another page in the annals of Hong Kong publishing history.

Since Dr. Gui told his wife over WeChat in mid-November not to fly to Thailand, he has made no contact whatsoever.

From where does the mysterious force that captured Dr. Gui across borders come? From which country? The answer is all but certain.

Sharing a common fate, there is no doubt that the threat presented by this force draws nearer to Hong Kong’s press freedom, Hong Kong publishers, and Chinese politics writers.

[FIN]

Special thanks to:

Boxun’s Chinese language website, author Meng Liang, Mr. Li Fang in the Netherlands, Gui Minhai’s family, the property management office at Dr. Gui’s apartment building in Pattaya, Pan Yongzhong, U.K newspaper the Guardian, and the many individuals whose names cannot be divulged.

Appendix I: November 7, 2015, Bei Ling’s “Reflections on Ah-hai’s ‘Disappearance’”

I spoke with Dr. Gui’s wife ten hours ago, and she very clearly told me ‘he’s well.’ Even so, after five hours spent believing her and three spent thinking it over, I strongly doubt he’s really ok. My question is this: where is exactly is Dr. Gui? In what place is he ‘well’? Has he been kidnapped and taken back to China, or is he still vacationing in Thailand? Why have they not allowed him to appear and report to the media that he is ok? How exactly did this happen?

All signs suggest he has come under the control of some kind of mysterious force, to the extent that, regardless what what he says, I fear it will be manipulated behind his back by this force. The signs include: it has already been 15 days since he contacted the contractors renovating his apartment in Hong Kong to talk through the details of the renovation, whereas before he would call nearly every day; he confirmed he’d be in Hong Kong on October 25 to receive a poet friend visiting from Shanghai staying at his apartment, but he has yet to return to Hong Kong so the poet found other accommodations; also, though he’s had phone contact with his wife, the calls have been rushed, and it seems the media attention on his whereabouts pushed him to tell his wife he’s ‘ok.’ This all points to one conclusion: he’s being controlled.

This is my suspicion! If only I were wrong…

From my experience being detained in prison in China, I know prisoners’ families ordinarily are managed by police, led to believe that if they keep quiet and comply, then this big problem will go away. Moreover, the psychology underlying an authoritarian society’s actions allow it to believe that through connections and back doors, it can make someone free. This fantasy is well demonstrated. Take Yiu Mantin as an example. When he was first taken, his family didn’t disclose it to the public but rather also reported ‘he’s well.’ They thought privately seeking help from an intermediary in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference or the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong, and relying on connections could bring Mr. Yiu back to Hong Kong. When Hong Kong Legislative Council members including Zhang Mao wanted to hold a press conference to make Mr. Yiu’s case public, his wife was absent, further delaying the process three months in total. In the end, Yiu Mantin was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Thus, regarding the matter at hand, we must not blindly trust what the family says. I only need Ah-hai to appear just once, to tell us just one thing–where is he? Is he free, or not? No matter if it’s just one sentence, as long as he tells us where he is, that’s the only important thing.

In the early stages, we were led to believe he was safe, and so didn’t have the strength of conviction to ask for help or call for support. Perhaps we missed the best time to save him. I simply could not believe, that while his employees and associates were detained in Shenzhen, he was somehow alright…

Today, Hong Kong’s Apple Daily reported Causeway Bay Bookstore manager Lin Rongji called his wife after being detained in Shenzhen–further proof of my suspicions.

Thinking it over, there is no way I believe Ah-hai is ok, and now, I want to convince his wife that I have come to this conclusion after lengthy consideration. Everyone, please do not lower your guard…

Dr. Gui is also my friend of thirty years. Now we must seize this important moment to help him by bringing the attention of the international community–only then can we save Dr. Gui. I will work as hard as possible to utilize my connections with the German Foreign Affairs Ministry councilor of human rights and other agencies as well as Western media contacts. Through XXX’s hard work, we have contacted the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene and save this Swedish citizen. Dr. Gui is also a permanent resident of Germany, so the German government will likely also have a strong response to this situation.

The PEN Center’s statement might be insignificant, but we still must issue it and translate it to inform the International PEN Center and the PEN American Center. It is our moral duty to make clear the PEN Center’s absolute intolerance of this kind of behavior.

The International PEN Center so far has been insignificant in the international community, and we [the ICPC] have no way to match its pooled power. This is something Jennifer Clement, the International PEN Center’s new president, touched on in her remarks when she took office. Soon after she and I talked about the current situation, and she said the focus of her work would be to make the International PEN Center resemble organizations like the International Cities of Refuge Network, Doctors Without Borders, or Amnesty International, thereby becoming an international organization with the weight to be valued by the international community. The International PEN Center–let alone the ICPC–has yet to achieve this status.

These thoughts thus are drawn from several decades of life experiences and have nothing to do with my position as president. In sending this to our community, I only want it to be shared among members.

Appendix II: China: Serious Concerns about the Disappearance of Four Hong Kong-based Publishers

The International Publishers Association and PEN International are alarmed at reports that four people associated with a publisher and bookstore in Hong Kong famous for producing and stocking books critical of the Chinese authorities have gone missing. Gui Haiming, the Swedish owner of Sage Communications, along with general manager Lu Bo, store manager Lin Rongji, and staff member Zhang Zhiping have all been reported missing. Fears are growing that they may have been detained by the Chinese authorities.

The President of PEN International, Jennifer Clement, said, ‘PEN International is deeply concerned by the recent reports of four missing publishers in China. If it’s confirmed that they are in detention, it will be yet another blow to the declining situation for freedom of expression in the country. Chinese authorities should investigate these reported disappearances and immediately clarify the situation.’

IPA President, Richard Charkin said, ‘We are seriously concerned for these people’s safety. If they have indeed been arrested, then this is another example of the Chinese Government’s campaign to try to silence dissent in Hong Kong. The IPA calls on the Chinese Government to immediately declare whether these four people are indeed being detained and if so, on what charges. In any event, we ask the Chinese Government to do everything in its power to assist in locating the publishers and allowing for their safe return.’

See more at: http://www.pen-international.org/newsitems/china-serious-concerns-about-the-disappearance-of-four-hong-kong-based-publishers/#sthash.j4h4mPKr.dpuf

A photograph of the author in October 2015

 A photograph of the author in October 2015

[1] Dr. Gui Minhai, of Manchurian descent, was born in 1964 in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. He is an alternate member of the International Chinese PEN Center (ICPC) Board and a former coordinator of the ICPC Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee. In 1985 he graduated from Peking University History department. From 1985 to 1988, he served as editor of the People’s Education Publishing House. In 1988 he went to study at Göteborgs Universitet in Sweden, becoming a Swedish citizen in 1990. In 1995, he became a professor at the East Asia and Southeast Asia Research Center at the University of Göteborgs, where he earned his doctoral degree in 1996. In 2003 he immigrated to Germany. He started renting a long-term residence in Hong Kong in 2010. Starting in 2007, his publishing work often took him back and forth between Germany and Hong Kong, and that year he and Wang Jie jointly established a publishing house in Hong Kong. He has launched eight small publishing houses. In 2013, he jointly established Hong Kong’s Mighty Current Distribution Company with Lee Po and his wife and Lv Bo. In 2014, they acquired Causeway Bay Bookstore.

[2] With Bei Ling, one of the co-founders of the Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC), and a poet. He moved to the United States in 1995, and in 2006 immigrated to Hong Kong. From 2008 to 2012, he served as chief editor of Hong Kong’s Morning Bell Press. In 2010, he established Fountainhead Books. He first met Dr. Gui in 1985.

[3] See Appendix 1, “Reflections on Ah-hai’s ‘Disappearance.’”

[4] On November 16, Dr. Gui’s wife through a mutual friend in Germany passed to me her three requests: (1) Do not intervene in Dr. Gui’s business again; (2) Do not scare her by claiming Dr. Gui’s disappearance was due to kidnapping again; (3) Do not discuss Dr. Gui’s disappearance with media again, as only she possesses the right to do so.

[5] See Boxun news, website: http://news.qq.com/a/20151110/010895.htm; http://news.qq.com/a/20151110/021181.htm.

[6] See appendix II, China: serious concerns about the disappearance of four Hong Kong-based publishers.

[7] The Friendship Store was a PRC state-run store originally intended for foreigners, diplomats, etc., specializing in selling imported Western goods and quality Chinese crafts.

[8] Dr. Gui’s works on Eastern and Western comparative culture and politics and academic books include: Guide to Twentieth Century Western Cultural History (1988), The Mythology and Folklore of Scandinavia (1992), Feudalism in Chinese Marxist Historiography (1993), Ten Years of Yongzheng: The Story of that Swedish Vessel (2006), Dark Secrets of China’s Slave Labor (2007), etc. In addition, he wrote essay-style books and a large volume of poetry and commentary, including I Give You the Black Forest: Essays from Ah-Hai (2007).

[9] Wang Guangmei (1921-2006), ancestral hometown of Tianjin, was born in Beijing. She was the sixth (and last) wife of Liu Shaoqi, head of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and second chairman of the People’s Republic of China.

[10] Source: Tie Hua, “Net of Iron Will,” March 10, 2009.

[11] Website: http://wap.tiexue.net/3g/thread_3411992_1.html.

[12] Bo Xilai (1949-), son of senior CCP senior official Bo Yibo, was born in Beijing. He participated in the 16th and 17th CPC Central Committees and the 17th CPC Politburo. Starting in 2007, Bo Xilai served as the CCP secretary of Chongqing municipality. In 2012, he was demoted and dismissed from the CCP for bribery, corruption, and abuse of power. In 2013, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In addition, Bo Xilai’s wife Gu Kailai was handed down a deferred death sentence in 2012 for her suspected murder of British citizen Neil Heywood in 2011. Allegedly, Heywood was a personal assistant to the Bo family, and had intimate relations with Gu Kailai.

[13] Mirror Media Group was established in Canada in 1991 under the name Mirror Books. “Mirror” takes its meaning from the phrase, “The mirror does not lie, only reflects history.” Mirror Media Group’s subsidiaries include Mirror News Agency, Mirror Publishing, Mirror Magazine, Mirror TV, and a bookstore. In 1993, its headquarters moved to New York City. Its main bases of operation are New York, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

[14] XiaFeiEr publishing was established in 2001, and its name is a homophone for Paris’ “Eiffel Tower.” XiaFeiEr has already published more than 200 books on Chinese politics, current affairs, society, people, financial technology, military affairs, and other topics. It is Hong Kong’s biggest publisher of political works.

[15] New Century was established in 2005 by Bao Pu, son of Bao Tong, who served as political secretary to former CCP general secretary Zhao Ziyang. New Century mainly publishes banned Chinese politics books.

[16] Open Books was established by Jin Zhong, its chief editor, in order to publish books on the history of Chinese politics. In January 1987, Jin Zhong published the first monthly edition of Open Magazine in Hong Kong. The magazine mainly covers commentary on political developments in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

普利策奖得主新书令中文出版商望而却步

普利策奖得主新书令中文出版商望而却步

普立茲獎得主方鳳美

普利策奖得主方凤美接受美国之音专访

由于没有找到愿意为其新作《独生:中国最激进的实验》进行出版发行的中文出版商,普利策奖得主、原华尔街日报驻中国记者方凤美决定将其新书在网络上免费发行,她呼吁读者们能够自发捐款以帮助她支付出版此书的一些开销。

方凤美在其新书的按语中说,尽管当前中国的计划生育法规放宽,曾经施行的“一胎政策”转为“二胎政策”,但出版界对于“禁书”的审查越加严格。她表示,曾经有意向她购买此书版权的中国公司认为此书很难通过官方审查,因此改变主意。

方凤美说,除了中国大陆外,香港和台湾的出版商也不愿出版此书。

在这本书中,方凤美探讨了中国政府自1980年起在全国范围推广的一胎化政策,揭露了中国政府不想让外界知道的真相,包括践踏人权,强制妇女堕胎等黑暗现象,以及由此造成的社会问题及其对未来几十年的影响。

在接受财经媒体Quartz的采访时,方凤美介绍说,她原本以为在中国当局修改了“一胎政策”后这一问题不再会是敏感内容,但是显然现在“一胎政策”仍是敏感话题。她还透露在香港也很难找到出版商愿意出版此书,而台湾的出版商则是对有关中国的书籍没什么兴趣。

在新书的按语中,方凤美还提到前一段时间有香港书商失踪,后在中国大陆“电视认罪”的事情,并表示这起事件“导致香港的出版业前景更加黯淡”。

据Quartz报道,一位不愿透露姓名的出版商表示,最近香港与中国大陆海关大量查没书籍,这导致那些曾经到香港买书的消费者可能不会再这么做了。

方凤美表示,她希望在这本书被中国当局封杀之前能有尽可能多的读者看到它。

美國之音 2016/11/29

寫漢藏敏感題材 作家感謝台灣出版自由

寫漢藏敏感題材 作家感謝台灣出版自由

(中央社記者張淑伶上海24日電)一本以2008年藏民抗爭為背景的小說9月在台灣出版,由於描寫敏感的漢藏關係在大陸遭禁。作者張樸說,台灣作為言論自由的華文出版地,市場小卻非常重要,「我太感謝台灣了」。

張樸是旅居倫敦的英國籍華人,平時也寫政論文章。他是作家張戎的弟弟,為張戎作品「鴻:三代中國女人的故事」中文譯者。今年9月,他描寫一對漢藏男女愛情悲劇的小說「有一個藏族女孩叫阿塔」在台出版。

這本書的靈感,來自2008年3月西藏抗議事件時,藏族受到更嚴密的盤查及監控,一名藏族女孩的朋友只因手機裡有西藏精神領袖達賴喇嘛的照片就被捕,女孩的未婚夫是個漢人,因感到害怕就找藉口拋棄了她。

記者出身的張樸,為了撰寫此書閱讀許多書籍並做採訪,寫的雖是小說,但都有真實根據。譬如書中描寫,藏人公務員及僧人必須表態對達賴喇嘛劃清界線、藏族公務員辦公時對同胞說藏語被批評是「民族主義」、秘密警察在2008年3月期間對部分藏人的嚴刑拷打,都是真實的事。

張樸成長於四川成都,年輕時就與許多藏人有過來往,但在為寫作收集資料的過程中,才發覺過去對藏族其實根本不了解,此後便開始在雜誌發表文章「西藏不相信眼淚」。

張樸接受中央社記者專訪時表示,藏族人對於和漢人交朋友非常謹慎。所有的權力都在漢人手上,藏人需要幫忙時必須找漢人,藏人有很強的自尊,但有時面對被歧視也不得不妥協。他說,藏漢之間可以一起喝酒的朋友是有的,能講心裡話的很少。

他認為,多數漢人對藏人的認識太表面,甚至輕率批評對方生活習慣,加上中共官方對西藏傳統社會落後的錯誤宣傳,隔閡始終存在,每當藏區情勢緊張時,網路上各式不利藏人的謠言也特別多。

張樸說,西藏以幾百萬人的族群,發展出自己的詩歌、醫學、天文等,很了不起。他相信大多數漢人如果瞭解西藏近代史上藏人遭受鎮壓及被邊緣化的真相,會願意與藏人和解,「但很多人不知道,也不想了解」。

他說,「隔閡是政治和殺戮造成的」,而相較於宗教信仰和文化,政治其實非常短暫。

西藏歷史從來是高度自治,直到中共才對它強加意識形態和強勢統治,張樸認為,對待西藏最好的方法是「尊重他們,讓他們自己管理自己」。

張樸多年來在香港雜誌上發表對大陸的批評言論,已遭到大陸當局約談關切。據他說,2011年後因撰寫批評成都附近規劃中的化工廠可能遭致汙染,得罪當局,此後再無法進入中國大陸。

能在台灣出書,張樸覺得非常幸運,並感謝台灣。相比於發生「銅鑼灣書店事件」的香港,他認為台灣的言論與出版自由顯得更難能可貴,「要堅守下去」。而隨著大陸人到海外或透過網路吸收資訊,他相信滴水穿石,會有越來越多中國人了解真相。

中央社  2016/11/24

香港書商案播下恐懼的種子,但也催生了反抗

 

香港書商案播下恐懼的種子,但也催生了反抗

林榮基

林榮基(左)是去年失蹤的五名香港書商之一。在6月的抗議中,他在涉事書店的外面。Isaac Lawrence/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

香港——銅鑼灣書店的鐵門被鎖了起來,自從五名香港書商去年失蹤後,這個門就一直鎖著。他們五個人曾經營著這家書店,店裡的書架上擺滿了他們出版的有關中國政治的八卦書刊。

五名書商都被大陸當局拘留了好幾個月,其中有四名已經返回香港。還有一名仍被大陸當局拘留著,他是一名出版商,也是瑞典公民,一年多以前,他在自己泰國的家中被抓到了大陸。

這五名男子的戲劇性失蹤曾在世界各地成為頭條新聞,並在香港引發了恐慌,人們擔心香港享有的高度自治權已受到嚴重損害,這種自治權曾受一份條約保障,正是該條約在1997年使香港主權從英國回歸中國。

總部設在紐約的作家組織美國筆會(PEN America)發佈了一篇有關這五名書商的報告,詳細描述了他們失蹤的情況,並對國際社會在這個問題上有時過於溫和的反應做出批評,在報告的描述中,作為一個正在崛起的大國,中國越來越願意將其專制司法制度的影響擴大到自己的邊界以外。

這份長達70頁的報告還指出,儘管北京在香港和國際上受到了譴責,但中國的做法可能已經達到其預期的效果:出版這種禁書的最大書商現已停業,這家書店曾發行過大量消息來源不明的、有關中國領導人的政治陰謀和私生活的書籍。其他書商,包括那些發行過資料翔實、有關中國政治的權威書籍的出版商,則發現他們越來越難以繼續經營。

缺乏有關失蹤的信息,以及一位返回香港的書商所說的遭受逼供的情況,在香港一度興旺發達的出版界播下了恐懼的種子。在眾多出版商之中,為何僅對這家採取了這種特別的措施?對此中國政府從未給出過解釋。美國筆會的報告問道,這是為了阻止某本書的出版?還是為了迫使這些書商披露他們的信息來源?也許是為了得到書店的客戶名單?或者也許是要讓這家最大的禁書出版商關門?

「這些假定並不是相互排斥的,沒有任何一個假定得到了確認,這造成了不確定的氣氛。」報告說:「要發行關於中國統治者的書,獨立出版商不可能知道如何才能不越界,不變成下一個目標,因為他們不清楚界限在哪裡。唯一確定的反應是不要有任何舉動。」

有幾家售賣這些「政治禁書」的商店,在前來香港旅遊的大陸人中人氣很高,但它們從那時起就關門停業了。香港國際機場據說是這些書籍最大的市場,但那裡很多去年還在賣這些書的書店已經關閉,一些已經換成了間接由中國政府所有的書店。

該報告說,很多發行以中國為重點的政治書籍的香港出版商發現,要找到印刷商比較困難。新世紀出版社發行人鮑朴說,印刷商告訴他,「不管是什麼內容,都不會再印刷他的書。」

「在香港書籍出版和發行的整個週期中佔據主導地位的任何公司,要讓它們同意接受僅僅四五年前還大受歡迎的那種類型的項目,已經變得非常困難,幾乎是不可能的,」香港大學「中國傳媒研究計畫」研究員班志遠(David Bandurski)在一封電郵中寫道。「這並不奇怪,這些變化和這裡的出版社所有權的變化是對應的,那些接手的公司,就這樣說吧,它們和北京很友好。」

美國筆會還把失蹤案與香港和大陸關係的廣泛辯論聯繫了起來。當英國公民李波去年12月下旬在香港的一條街道上失蹤,幾周後在中國大陸出現,很多香港人都感到震驚。包括美國國務院在內的很多方面認為,這似乎是對「一國兩制」原則最嚴重的背離,自1997年以來,這個原則一直是香港與大陸關係的基礎。

現在這裡有了新的恐懼——甚至警報——香港的自主權再次受到威脅。這源於北京對兩個新當選的支持港獨議員的憤怒,他們在上個月的誓言中插入了一個被視為對中國有貶損的詞語。但是,這些所謂「本土派」在9月選舉中取得了成功,美國筆會的報告認為,他們成功當選的部分原因可能是香港公眾對書商案的反應。

「雖然銅鑼灣書商案引發了香港文學和出版界的恐懼,但更廣泛地說,它可能還導致一定程度的不滿,鼓勵更堅定的政治行動主義,」美國筆會的報告說。

《紐約時報》記者傅才德(Michael Forsythe)撰

《紐約時報》2016/11/7

桂敏海失踪、铜锣湾书店事件爆发一周年 独立中文笔会表关切、为桂获自由发呼吁

 

 

桂敏海失踪、铜锣湾书店事件爆发一周年
独立中文笔会表关切、为桂获自由发呼吁

 今天是瑞典籍华裔作家、出版人、独立中文笔会重要成员桂敏海(笔名阿海)遭绑架失踪、铜锣湾书店事件爆发一周年,独立中文笔会对会员桂敏海遭中国当局自泰国绑架回中国,至今未获任何法律援助、下落不明,表示严重关切,呼吁国际社会包括瑞典政府应继续关注此一言论自由、出版自由受到侵害的严重事件,敦促中国当局立即如实说明事件真相,并保证桂敏海等该事件受害人目前遭受的非法治境遇尽快在公开、公平、公正的条件下获得解决。
    
    独立中文笔会今天发布由中国地下文学流亡文学文献馆(ACULEL)提供的两份文献照片,以表示对会员桂敏海的声援。两份文学文献分别是:一、桂敏海(阿海)作为十位作者之一于31年前(1985年)参与其中的独立出版物(Samizdat)《十种感觉》(诗集);二、桂敏海(阿海)作为诗人于28年前(1988年)在北京参与主编的独立出版物(Samizdat)《九人集》(诗集)。前一份独立出版物的十名作者中也有在2001年发起创办独立中文笔会的两位诗人贝岭和孟浪。
    桂敏海失踪一周年:独立中文笔会呼吁特别关注
    

桂敏海失踪一周年:独立中文笔会呼吁特别关注