Causeway Bay Books

Causeway Bay Books (銅鑼灣書店), is an independent bookstore and upstairs bookstore in Hong Kong. It is very popular with people from mainland China looking for books on Chinese politics and politicians that are not available in the People's Republic. In late 2015, five people associated with the store disappeared, sparking international concern.

It was founded in 1994 by Lam Wing-kee. Located in Hong Kong Island on the second floor at 531 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay, the store occupies an area of nearly 300 square feet (28 m²). This bookstore, in addition to general literary history books, the store also sells a lot of books on topics that are considered sensitive and therefore banned in China. Many mainland Chinese people coming to Hong Kong as tourist will make a special trip to the bookstore to purchase books on politics.

In 2014, Lam Wing-kei sold the bookstore to Mighty Current Media Ltd., but stayed on as its manager. From September 2014, the company had three shareholders: Gui Minhai (34%), Sophie Choi (34%) and Lui Bo (32%). According to industry sources, Mighty Current is a prolific publisher with a number of publishing subsidiaries, and this group may be responsible for 30 to 60 percent of the output of salacious books about Chinese political figures that are widely available at newsstands and in book stores, including one at Hong Kong International Airport.

In its semi-annual report on Hong Kong for the second half of 2015, British Foreign Secretary said: "The unexplained disappearance of five individuals associated with a Hong Kong bookstore and publishing house has raised questions in Hong Kong. I am particularly concerned by the situation of Mr Lee Po, a British citizen. The full facts of the case remain unclear, but our current information indicates that Mr Lee was involuntarily removed to the mainland without any due process under Hong Kong SAR law. This constitutes a serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong and undermines the principle of “One Country, Two Systems” which assures Hong Kong residents of the protection of the Hong Kong legal system. We have called, in our contacts with the Chinese government at the highest level, for Mr Lee‟s immediate return to Hong Kong. We urge the Chinese and Hong Kong SAR governments to reassure the people of Hong Kong that law enforcement in the Hong Kong SAR is exclusively the responsibility of the Hong Kong SAR authorities, and that the fundamental rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents will continue to be fully protected, and respected by all, in accordance with the Joint Declaration and Basic Law."

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