Missing Hong Kong booksellers could be out 'in days'

Several Hong Kong booksellers detained in China could be released for "good attitude" after confessing, reports say.

Critics said the booksellers were arrested for selling publications critical of Beijing and President Xi Jinping

Three of five Hong Kong booksellers missing for months could be released from detention "in a few days", Hong Kong and Shanghai media are reporting, indicating for the first time that their disappearances were linked to their activities distributing "unlicensed" books in mainland China.

Hong Kong daily, the South China Morning Post, reported on Monday that Lam Wing-kei, Lui Por and Cheung Ji-ping, of Causeway Bay Books, could be granted "bail" for "good attitude" while awaiting trial in Chinese jails.


It was unclear if China was planning to send them back to Hong Kong. The report said Lam, Lui and Cheung were arrested in Shenzhen and Dongguan on October 17 and 24 last year, and had confessed to their "crimes".

Their arrests raised fears that Beijing has stepped up its crackdown on the press and the publishing industries, even among those living in the semi-autonomous former British colony.