One Freed, Four to Go

CW left: Lee Po, Gui Minhai, Lui Por, Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kee

The plight of the missing booksellers continues to raise eyebrows with breaking news tonight that one of them has returned to Hong Kong.

Lui Por is the general manager of Mighty Current, the publishing house that specializes in books critical of the Communist Party of China.

He returned today through Lo Wu immigration check point and local authorities were alerted, who then waited for him at his Tai Wai home.

In a statement released by the force, the police "met with Lui Por who returned to Hong Kong from the mainland this morning. Lui Por requested police cancel his missing person case and stated that he did not require any assistance from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government or Police. He refused to disclose other details".

Lui Por as he appeared on state television on Monday

Lui hadn't been seen since October until Monday when he and his three colleagues appeared on state television to say Gui Minhai ordered Lui and his two other associates to deliver some 4,000 books across the border since October 2014.

They would cover the books with a romance novel cover and then wrap the books in black nylon to avoid screening detection.

One wonders what kind of psychological state Lui is in and will he even seek help to deal with his ordeal of " being disappeared" for about five months.

Our next question is when the other three, including Lee Po are released and how they will be released.

Experts believe Gui could be jailed for running an illegal business in China, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. But if he is convicted of other crimes, he could be jailed for much longer.

It is frightening how people are silenced by intimidation, and it seems Lui has been told to keep quiet for his own good. While we are relieved he is back, we may never know more about his time being detained, and how he dealt with being disappeared by Chinese authorities for so long.

More "Confessions" from Missing Booksellers

In a Phoenix TV interview, Lee Po says he willingly returned to the mainland

Things are getting weirder in the case of the missing booksellers.

Six weeks after Hong Kong police requested to meet with one of the five, Lee Po, who runs Causeway Bay Books, a police officer and immigration officer finally saw him face to face, at a guest house in an undisclosed location at Lee's request.

He told the pair he went to the mainland of his own free will, that he had not been abducted, but refused to elaborate. He even reiterated he was free and safe in the mainland and that he was helping with an investigation involving another missing bookseller, Gui Minhai.

Lee repeated his request for the police to end their investigation into his case and that he didn't need any help from the Hong Kong government. He said he would return home once the investigation was over.

Then yesterday the three other missing booksellers appeared on state television, the first time they were seen since they were reported missing in October.

CW top left: Gui Minhai, Lui Por, Lam Wing-kei, Cheung Chi-ping

The three made confessions on TV, admitting to "operating an illegal business" on the mainland.

Phoenix Television reported that Gui had allegedly ordered his associates -- Mighty Current general manager Lui Por, Causeway Bay Books manager Lam Wing-kee and Lui's assistant Cheung Chi-ping -- to mail 4,000 unauthorized books to 380 buyers in 28 mainland cities and provinces since October 2014.

The booksellers allegedly opened a bank account on the mainland to receive payment from mainland customers.

Nevertheless Lui, Lam and Cheung could be granted bail pending trial and return to Hong Kong soon due to their "good attitude", the Phoenix TV report said.

Gui also appeared on television, wearing the same grey jacket he wore in his first appearance, admitting to drunk driving and allegedly killing a young woman in 2003.

This time Gui said he and the three others studied ways to smuggle books across the border, including wrapping the covers with other books and then packaging them in black nylon bags to make it hard for the authorities to X-ray the books.

He added the books also escaped detection because they were loaded into trucks carrying other goods.

Causeway Bay Books manager Lam also said the books they produced were fabricated.

"The contents are compiled from information downloaded from the internet or from magazines. They created rumours and bad influences in the society," Lam said on TV.

The Chinese authorities are making the story more and more bizarre. They say the end is in sight for three accomplices once they go through some kind of legal process, but what about Lee and Gui? When will they be allowed to return to Hong Kong?

Even better Lee has said that he will renounce his British passport. Really? Has the Chinese government offered him permanent residency and a hukou because he has "special talents"?

Skeptical Hong Kong people continue to be shocked and appalled by the latest developments. As we've said before, the longer the Chinese authorities keep these five booksellers, the greater our distrust of Beijing...