On this episode of China Uncensored,
can we trust China to honor its promises?
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored,
I'm your host Chris Chappell.
China.
What else can you say about it other than...
"I love China because they buy my apartments,
they spend, you know,
fortunes in Manhattan they give me millions and millions of dollars for these apartments
and they're great."
Yes, China is great!
So much different from the Communist Party of even 15 years ago,
when people could just get "disappeared."
You see China is a major global player now.
One that you can trust to honor its commitments.
Take the "one country, two systems" policy for example.
When Great Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997,
they called on the Communist Party to honor Hong Kong's core liberties and way of life,
which include freedom of speech and an independent judiciary,
things denied in Mainland China.
And the Communist Party said it would,
at least for a while.
Its promise was "50 years, no change."
And it's only been less than 20 years,
so you'd think everything would be going pretty well.
Except for some reason,
Hong Kongers are unhappy.
No, that footage is from 2003,
when half a million Hong Kongers protested Article 23.
It would have allowed police to,
among other things,
search and arrest Hong Kong citizens without evidence.
It didn't pass.
No, this is from when I was in Hong Kong in 2014 covering the Umbrella Movement.
Hong Kongers were unhappy about the Communist Party's interference in their elections.
No, that's Hong Kong McDonalds' delicious taro pie that for some reason they feel should
be denied to American consumers.
Ah, that's what I'm talking about.
The protests this month.
They're over the mysterious "disappearance" of five booksellers who sold political books
critical of the Communist Party.
"I would say that this is a turning point for suppression of our freedom."
Hong Kong is full of these kind of bookstores.
In fact, that's the first thing I saw in the Hong Kong airport.
All sorts of books criticizing political figures:
Xi Jinping.
Jiang Zemin.
Guo Meimei?!
Wow, that's hard-hitting politics.
Anyway, these kinds of books are banned in Mainland China.
But because of the one country two systems policy,
they can be freely sold in Hong Kong.
That's why the main clientele of these bookstores are Mainland Chinese tourists.
"Where are most of your customers from?"
"I can say like 80-90% are from Mainland, Mainland visitor, yeah."
"So they come here and buy the books and take them back, illegally?"
"Haha, yeah, they try. "
Now surely, the Communist Party must be frustrated by this.
But since it made a commitment not to touch Hong Kong's freedoms till 2047,
it would never do something like, say,
kidnap the people who run these bookstores, right?
Because if they did...
"I think you are spelling the death knell for one country two systems.
You can forget about it.
Nobody would feel safe in Hong Kong simply by speaking up."
And the Communist Party would never want people to not feel safe speaking up.
It's just...a coincidence that in the course of 3 months,
five people from Causeway Bay Books disappeared
and that it came ahead of the publishing of a book that allegedly exposes an extramarital
affair of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
So how about this, my China Uncensored super sleuths:
Let's piece together the chain of events,
and see if we can't figure out who's behind it!
The game is on!
Let's start with the latest,
the Case of Lee Bo.
He disappears on December 30,
after telling his wife he's going to his warehouse to fetch some books.
He leaves his Mainland travel permit at home,
which means he couldn't have entered the Mainland--voluntarily.
It also means there'd be no official record of him leaving Hong Kong.
But, about a week later,
he calls his wife,
telling her that in fact he is in the Mainland, "assisting with an investigation."
He also speaks to her in Mandarin,
even though the couple usually speak Cantonese together.
So let's see what we have so far:
A 65 year old man,
who said in recent interviews he hasn't been back to the Mainland in two or three years
because he feared for his safety,
is on a secret mission in China,
but won't say where he was or when he'd be back.
I'm sorry gang,
this case is unsolvable.
And even though Lee was also a British citizen,
China doesn't recognize dual citizenship.
"This person in question is first and foremost a Chinese citizen...it is not necessary for
anyone to make groundless speculations."
"Hong Kong's affairs are purely China's internal affairs, (in which) any foreign country has
no right to interfere.
So basically they're saying no other country can say who China can and can't kidnap.
Not that they kidnapped anyone, mind you.
Lee went to China to help with that investigation.
As for the other four, well, if you really think about it, anyone unscrupulous enough
to be willing to publish slanderous tales about the great and glorious leaders of the
Communist Party, probably were also involved in some other shady things.
Oh, hey this just in!
One of the guys who disappeared,
didn't disappear at all! Gui Minhai,
who also has Swedish dual citizenship,
just so happened to show up for a conveniently timed,
tearful confession on Chinese state-run TV.
You see, he didn't disappear in Thailand in October after all.
He voluntarily turned himself in to Chinese authorities after being on the run for killing
a young woman in a car crash back in 2003.
And it's not important that there are some discrepancies in the case.
For example, according to a CCTV report from 2005 on the crash,
the perpetrator Gui Minhai was 46 years old.
But this book publisher Gui Minhai was only 39 back then.
And his name is written like this,
but that CCTV report used a different character with a similar sound.
It's also not important that Gui's daughter never even heard about any accident or manslaughter
charge.
What matters is that in his confession, he specifically says it's unnecessary for the
Swedish government to get involved.
"I don't want any individuals organizations
including the Swedish government,
to get involved or intervene in this matter.
Though I hold Swedish passport,
I still feel I'm a Chinese."
So now we know that of the five missing booksellers,
one is clearly helping with an investigation,
and the other is clearly a very bad man.
So in conclusion...
we should just stop asking questions about the other three.
Because at the end of the day,
China honors its commitment to one country, two systems.
And anyone who disagrees,
won't for long.
So what do you think?
Can China be trusted?
And there's only one correct answer to that.
So leave your "yes" comment below,
and subscribe for more episodes of China Uncensored.
Once again I'm Chris Chappell, see you next time.