The publisher of a leading magazine on Chinese and regional defense issues says he is leaving Hong Kong out of concern he could be targeted by China’s state security bodies, a further sign of how Beijing’s growing presence is chilling the political atmosphere in the territory.
Publisher Andrei Chang (張毅弘), who publishes the English-language Kanwa Asian Defense and Chinese-language Kanwa Defense Review yesterday said that the suspected abductions of booksellers tied to a Hong Kong publisher of tomes about sensitive Chinese political topics had left him shocked and concerned, prompting him to decide to move to Tokyo next month while continuing to publish his magazines in Hong Kong.
“Once you know someone who’d been kidnapped, you start to wonder if you’ll be next,” said Chang, a Canadian citizen who was born in China and who knows the men in the case. “We have to think tactically.”
Photo: AP
Chang is a top authority on China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and also writes about Chinese leadership issues.
Hong Kongers such as Chang were stunned by the recent temporary disappearances of Swedish-Chinese author Gui Minhai (桂民海) and four colleagues associated with the Causeway Bay Bookstore, including his British chief editor Lee Bo (李波). That was due in part to suspicions that Chinese security agents snatched Lee and spirited him across the border, while Gui was taken from Thailand to China.
Although many ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong, including Chang, hold foreign passports as a sort of insurance policy in case of a crisis, the difficulties Britain and Sweden faced in getting consular access to Lee and Gui raised doubts about that strategy.
Three of Gui and Lee’s colleagues are now free on bail in China, but the pair appear to be still detained without charge.
In related news, Beijing has told the EU to stay out of its internal affairs in response to criticism that China’s investigation of the five Hong Kong booksellers undermined the territory’s autonomy and damaged its rule of law.
The EU on Monday released its annual report on the Hong Kong in which it said the investigation by Chinese authorities of five men had raised concerns about respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.
The case is “the most serious challenge” to Hong Kong’s political autonomy, the report said.
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