The central government and the Hong Kong special administrative region have agreed to improve their cross-border police notification system. The decision came after a first round of discussions in Beijing on Tuesday. During the meeting, Mainland police passed on the details of their handling of the case of bookseller Lam Wing-kee to a Hong Kong delegation.
"I have violated Chinese laws, and I regret that. I hope the government can show leniency, because I will make sure that I will never make the same mistake again," Lam Wing-kee said.
Delegates listened to a videotape of Lam Wing-kee admitting to his crimes during Tuesday's meeting.
The 61 year-old bookstore owner was detained last year for illegally selling books on the Chinese mainland.
Last fall, police in the eastern city of Ningbo found a stash of banned books that were produced outside of the mainland.
They tracked the illegal books to Lam and his Causeway Bay bookstore .
Mainland police arrested Lam in Shenzhen, in October, and put him under residential surveillance.
"Lam Wing-kee and his companies have violated the law, and are suspected of illegal trading," said Zhu Weihong, Ningbo Public Security Bureau.
Lam was released on bail this March, after police helped him find a residence and a job in Guangdong.
He was allowed to return to Hong Kong in June.
After arriving in Hong Kong, Lam held a press conference, claiming he was mistreated, and detained illegally.
"China's Criminal Law stipulates that if either the criminal behavior or the consequences occurred on the mainland, mainland Criminal Law applies to the case. For example, Hong Kong has jurisdiction over book businesses in Hong Kong. But if the books are mailed to the mainland, then the mainland has jurisdiction over the case," said Professor Song Xiaozhuang, CTR for Basic Laws of HK & Macau Sar. of Shenzhen University.
Lam also accused mainland police of breaking the "one country, two systems" policy.
"The premise of the "one country, two systems" policy is "one country". Hong Kong residents are residents under China's Basic Law. They are also Chinese citizens that must abide by China's constitution. When Hong Kong residents come to the mainland and violate mainland laws, it is legal for China to investigate and arrest the suspects under the country's Criminal Law," said Liu Cheng, Assoc. Professor of Law School, Sun Yat-Sen University.
"Hong Kong enjoys a high level of human rights and freedom of speech -- probably among the highest in the world. But even before Hong Kong returned to the mainland, the Causeway Bay bookstore wouldn't dare print something that mocks The Queen of Britain. If the sellers did, Hongkong British authorities would have arrested them," Professor Song said.
Lam has declared he has no intention of returning to the mainland, thus violating the terms of his bail.
The police are urging him to return to the mainland on his own accord, otherwise they will be forced to take other legal measures.
