Missing bookseller Lui Por back in Hong Kong

One of five Hong Kong booksellers who was detained in mainland China has returned and met police, the Hong Kong government said.

Lui Por has been missing since last October, in a case that has provoked fears of increasing Chinese interference in the semi-autonomous region. He was among three of the booksellers who Hong Kong police said earlier this week would be released on bail.

“Police met with Lui Por, who returned to Hong Kong from the mainland, this morning,” a statement released late on Friday said.

“Lui requested to have his missing persons case closed and expressed that there was no need for assistance from the Hong Kong government or police,” it said, adding he refused to provide any more information.

Hong Kong police had said Lui would be released on bail along with fellow booksellers Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kee.

Five booksellers from Hong Kong’s Mighty Current publishing house, known for its salacious titles critical of Beijing, went missing last year before turning up in mainland China.

One who apparently disappeared from Hong Kong, Lee Bo, appeared on television on Monday and insisted he had not been abducted by mainland authorities.

In the Phoenix TV interview, he said he had “resorted to illegal immigration” to get to the mainland as he did not want to draw attention to his visit.

The other four booksellers, who are under criminal investigation on the mainland, also appeared on Phoenix on Sunday. They admitted to smuggling illicit books into China in sombre, sometimes tearful, interviews.

In their first appearance since they were detained, Cheung, Lui and Lam blamed the company’s illegal book trade on colleague Gui Minhai.

Gui, a Swedish citizen, confessed he had “explored ways to circumvent official inspections in China”.

The case has sparked international condemnation.