Hong Kong bookseller disappearances spark widespread anger and alarm

Beijing: One of the five Hong Kong booksellers who went missing late last year has provided an explosive account of his detention and mistreatment by Chinese authorities in the case widely regarded as the most serious violation of Hong Kong's autonomy by Beijing since its handover from British rule.

In a gripping press conference on Thursday, two days after his return to the city, Lam Wing-kee described an ordeal which included being accosted by 11 people after he crossed the mainland border into the southern city of Shenzhen in October, being blindfolded on a cross-country train ride to coastal Ningbo, and coming under sustained interrogation while being held incommunicado in a small room for months.

"I was handcuffed and my eyes were covered," Mr Lam said of the train ride. "It took about 13 or 14 hours. I noticed I was taken to Ningbo because I glimpsed the station when we got off the train."