Thai authorities investigating case of missing bookseller Gui Minhai after it emerges there is no record of him leaving Thailand
The bookseller has since appeared on Chinese state television in mainland custody
The case of Hong Kong’s missing booksellers has sparked further concern on the international stage after it emerged that one of them, publisher Gui Minhai, has no record of leaving Thailand before appearing on Chinese state television in mainland custody.
At the same time, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying prompted more scepticism yesterday by insisting it was not unusual that it had taken Guangdong security officials 20 days to inform Hong Kong that bookseller Lee Bo, who disappeared from the city last month, was on the mainland.
Leung rejected concerns about the effectiveness of the mutual notification mechanism between mainland and Hong Kong police, noting there had been previous where it had taken longer.
READ MORE: Hong Kong politicians urge mainland Chinese authorities to ‘stop keeping everyone in dark’ about missing Causeway Bay booksellers
Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs broke its silence on Gui’s case for the first time yesterday, stressing that Thai authorities were “still looking into the case” and it was “in the process”. But the ministry would not back up its claims with any further information.
A long-time friend of Gui’s yesterday revealed the discrepancy over the publisher’s sudden appearance on Chinese state television on Sunday claiming he had turned himself in over a fatal car accident he was involved in 12 years ago.
Bei Ling, a dissident poet who has known Gui since 1984, hit out at Thai authorities for not following up on a police report made soon after the publisher vanished in Pattaya three months ago.
He said Swedish authorities had contacted their Thai counterparts about Gui, who was born on the mainland but became a naturalised Swedish citizen.
READ MORE: Who believes China’s narrative on Hong Kong’s missing bookseller mystery?
