香港书商上电视认罪 Hong Kong booksellers admit smuggling books into mainland China

Four of the Hong Kong booksellers who vanished last year before reappearing in mainland police custody have admitted to smuggling critical political works into China, according to videotaped confessions and a Chinese news report.

据香港凤凰卫视(Phoenix TV)的视频资料和中文媒体澎湃(The Paper)报道，四名香港书商已承认向中国内地走私批判性政治图书。这四名书商于去年失踪，随后现身内地警方看守所。

Gui Minhai, one of the owners of Causeway Bay Books, said in a video broadcast by Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV on Sunday night that the sale of such books was “not legal” in China and that he and his colleagues had circumvented the rules.

铜锣湾书店(Causeway Bay Books)店主之一桂敏海周日在凤凰卫视播出的一段视频中表示，在中国销售这些图书是“非法”的，他和他的同事避过了法规。

“After several discussions, we considered ways to avoid Chinese official inspection,” he said in videotaped comments, the source of which was not revealed. “These included changing the book covers and putting the books into dark nylon bags to avoid X-ray inspection.”

桂敏海在视频中说：“我们几次商量，研究规避中国官方检查的方式。其中包括更换书籍封面，用深色尼龙袋包装书籍，来逃避安检X光检测。”这段视频为提前录制，来源尚未被透露。

Three of his colleagues also confessed in broadcast videos to helping Mr Gui, a Swedish citizen, and claimed that they regretted their actions. It was not possible to reach them for comment.

桂敏海的三位同事也在视频中供认协助他犯罪，并表示悔过。记者无法联系到他们请其置评。

A separate story published by The Paper, a state-controlled Chinese media outlet, said they had smuggled 4,000 books into China, distributing them to 380 readers in 28 provinces.

受官方控制的中国媒体机构澎湃也发表了一篇报道，称这四名书商向中国内地走私4000册图书，邮寄给了28个省份的380名读者。

Televised confessions have become an increasingly common propaganda tool for Chinese police, as they expand an already wide-ranging crackdown on dissent that has ensnared lawyers and labour activists as well as journalists, writers and publishers.

电视认罪已成为中国警方越来越普遍的宣传工具，以此加强他们对异见分子业已全面的打击力度，律师、劳工维权人士、记者、作家和出版社，都已被这场打击裹挟进去。

The video confessions have painted Mr Gui, who disappeared from his home in Thailand last October, as the driving force behind Mighty Current. It is one of several publishing houses in Hong Kong producing books that would be banned in China because of their sensitive content, ranging from hefty historical tomes to lurid, apocryphal tales of top leaders’ personal lives.

据这段电视认罪资料，去年10月从泰国家中失踪的桂敏海是巨流传媒有限公司(Mighty Current)的主要创始人。由于内容敏感，巨流以及香港其他几家出版社的图书在中国内地遭禁，其图书范围包括大量历史书籍，以及有关最高领导人个人生活的耸人听闻的杜撰故事。

“[The books] have created a lot of rumours and bad influence on the society,” said Lam Wing Kee, who managed the bookstore, in his taped confession. “I have deeply acknowledged my fault. I am willing to be punished.”

负责经营书店的林荣基在认罪录像中表示：“这些书对社会造成很多的谣言，对社会造成不良的影响。我已经深刻认识到自己的错误，愿意接受处罚。”

The Paper cited Chinese police as saying that because Mr Lam and two other colleagues had been co-operative, they may be released on bail and allowed to return to Hong Kong soon. No information was provided on Mr Lee and Mr Gui’s likely fate.

澎湃引用中国警方说法表示，由于林荣基、吕波、张志平认罪态度较好，有机会获取保候审，有望在近日返回香港。目前尚没有消息显示林荣基和桂敏海将接受何种处理。