Hong Kong booksellers confess to illegal sales in mainland China

-As pressure grows on Hong Kong's coveted autonomy from mainland China, four local booksellers kidnapped by mainland police confessed that they illegally sold books to customers across the border.

Televised broadcasts, reminiscent of a Stalin-era show trial, showed the men making scripted confessions about their company, which includes the Currents publishing company and Causeway Bay bookshop that specialise in titles containing political gossip and salacious stories about Chinese Communist Party officials.

Raised concerns

The interviews, which ran on Sunday night, were the latest development in a saga that has raised concerns among

Hong Kong

politicians, activists and foreign governments who believe the arrests threaten the city’s autonomy from China and violate norms of due process.

It has become the norm from the Chinese government side to broadcast televised confessions by individuals in police custody. While state broadcaster China Central Television has frequently aired confessions, including that of British investigator Peter Humphrey, this latest show trial appears to be the first instance of a non-state-owned Chinese news outlet broadcasting these types of confessions.

Earlier, China's internet watchdog shut down the social media accounts of a high-profile property developer, Ren Zhiqiang, who has posted articles critical of President Xi Jinping and called for the state media to serve the people, not the Communist Party.

Mr Ren, who is retired, has 37 million followers on his social media account. His comments there, which have generally been about business matters, have become increasingly political.

Shutting down his microblogging accounts, the Cyberspace Administration of China accused Mr Ren of publishing "illegal messages" that had a vicious impact", the latest sign of a tightening of control of online activity in China.

Illegal information

Cyberspace Administration of China spokesperson

Jiang Jun

said it had closed Mr Ren’s Sina and Tencent Weibo accounts because “the internet is not a lawless land and nobody can spread illegal information online”.

Earlier this month, Mr Xi visited the three main state propaganda organs and urged them to stick closely to party lines in their reporting, he said.

The Global Times newspaper reported that even though Mr Ren was a member of the party, he had argued that "once media start to follow the party line . . . the people will be left to a deserted corner".

Mr Ren has spoken out this way for a while, benefiting from the fame it brings but taking no responsibilities.

“He gained over 33 million followers on Weibo, attracted widespread attention and triggered numerous heated debates in the public discourse,” it said.