{"id":6393,"date":"2016-01-17T09:39:11","date_gmt":"2016-01-17T14:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=6393"},"modified":"2016-01-17T09:53:34","modified_gmt":"2016-01-17T14:53:34","slug":"missing-hong-kong-bookseller-appears-on-state-television-claiming-he-turned-himself-in-over-11-year-old-drink-driving-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/missing-hong-kong-bookseller-appears-on-state-television-claiming-he-turned-himself-in-over-11-year-old-drink-driving-death","title":{"rendered":"Missing Hong Kong bookseller appears on state television, claiming he turned himself in over 11-year-old drink-driving death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2016\/01\/bookshop-banner-652a.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6394\" src=\"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2016\/01\/bookshop-banner-652a.jpg\" alt=\"bookshop-banner-652a\" width=\"652\" height=\"143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2016\/01\/bookshop-banner-652a.jpg 652w, https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2016\/01\/bookshop-banner-652a-300x66.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 652px) 100vw, 652px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CCTV Gui Minhai report\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0O1gIBTLWUI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>In a video interview with a bookseller missing since November, he says he was afraid of going to jail and thought he\u2019d better run &#8211; despite being given a suspended sentence for the offence in 2004<\/strong><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Danny Mok, <span style=\"color: #000000;\">danny.mok@scmp.com<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_6395\" style=\"width: 496px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2016\/01\/Gui-Minhai.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6395\" class=\"wp-image-6395 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2016\/01\/Gui-Minhai.jpg\" alt=\"Gui Minhai\" width=\"486\" height=\"302\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2016\/01\/Gui-Minhai.jpg 486w, https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/files\/2016\/01\/Gui-Minhai-300x186.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 486px) 100vw, 486px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-6395\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">I have to shoulder my own liability, and I\u2019m willing to be punished, said a tearful Gui Minhai, during an interview with CCTV, aired on Sunday night. Photo: SCMP Pictures<\/p><\/div>\n<p>One of the five booksellers who had mysteriously disappeared in recent months appeared in an interview on state media on Sunday night, saying he had surrendered to the mainland authorities after being on the run for more than 11 years.<\/p>\n<p>Gui Minhai, a China-born Swedish national and co-owner of Mighty Current publishing company \u2013 which specialises in books banned on the mainland \u2013 appeared on CCTV, admitting he had been evading a suspended 2 year jail term since causing the death of a 20-year-old university student while drink-driving in Ningbo, Zhejiang province in 2004.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was afraid of going to jail, and there was no way I could develop on the mainland, so I thought I better run,\u201d Gui said.<\/p>\n<p>He surrendered to mainland Chinese police in October last year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have to shoulder my own liability, and I\u2019m willing to be punished,\u201d Gui said, while sobbing.<\/p>\n<h4><em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/politics\/article\/1898013\/swedens-foreign-ministry-takes-serious-view-over\" shape=\"rect\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">READ MORE: Sweden\u2019s foreign ministry takes \u2018serious view\u2019 over disappearance of publisher and naturalised citizen while in Thailand<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<p>During the recorded interview, which the state broadcaster claimed was filmed in a detention centre, Gui also asked that the Swedish authorities stay away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though I am a Swedish national, I truly feel that I am still Chinese and my roots are still in China. So I hope that the Swedish side would respect my personal choice, rights and privacy and let me solve my own problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Xinhua also carried the report at about the same time last night.<\/p>\n<p>Almost two weeks ago the Swedish ministry for foreign affairs announced it was taking a \u2018serious view\u2019 over Gui Minhai\u2019s disappearance, summoning the Thai ambassador and launching an investigation both in Thialand and mainland China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur embassies in Bangkok and Beijing are investigating this through local authorities. Swedish law enforcement authorities are working on the case. Our embassy in Bangkok has raised the issue with high-level Thai representatives,\u201d ministry spokesman Gabriel Wernstedt said.<\/p>\n<p>Mighty Current publishing company has published about 80 books on China since its establishment in 2012. The company also runs a book shop in Causeway Bay, known as Causeway Bay Books.<\/p>\n<p>The bookstore was established in 1994 and was said to be popular among mainland tourists as they could buy politics books banned in their homeland.<\/p>\n<h4><em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/law-crime\/article\/1877932\/missing-presumed-detained-hong-kong-publishers-books\" shape=\"rect\"><span style=\"color: #0066cc;\">READ MORE: Missing, presumed detained: Hong Kong publishers of books critical of China go missing<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Missing since November<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Gui Minhai first came to the attention of media when he appeared in Thailand, after leaving town suddenly in November, last year. His disappearance was preceded by the disappearance of three other members of the Mighty Current\/Causeway Bay Books staff the month before after they had visited relatives in Shenzen in mainland China.<\/p>\n<p>Missing person reports were made to police about three other members of the bookstore\u2019s staff \u2013 manager Lam Wing-kei, Lui Bo, general manager of the publishing house and Cheung Jiping, the publishing house\u2019s business manager, on November 5.<\/p>\n<p>At the time a colleague and co-owner of Might Current Publishing, Mr Lee, said Gui\u2019s whereabouts were unknown since he went on holiday in Pattaya in Thailand in the middle of November.<\/p>\n<p>Gui was last heard of when he sent an email on October 15 to printers asking them to get ready for a new book. Since then, Gui could not be reached, Lee said.<\/p>\n<p>Lee said he feared the four might have been detained by mainland authorities as the book Gui was sending to print probably touched on sensitive issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suspect all of them were detained. All four went missing at the same time,\u201d Lee said. He added that phone calls to them were either unanswered or went dead.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/law-crime\/article\/1902198\/missing-hong-kong-bookseller-appears-state-television\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/law-crime\/article\/1902198\/missing-hong-kong-bookseller-appears-state-television<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a video interview with a bookseller m &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/missing-hong-kong-bookseller-appears-on-state-television-claiming-he-turned-himself-in-over-11-year-old-drink-driving-death\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[232,35,167],"tags":[1473,597,1476,1400,90,1477],"views":6679,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6393"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6393"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6400,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6393\/revisions\/6400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}