This essay compares how Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun reported the detention of Hong Kong booksellers critical of the Chinese Communist Party. While Nikkei highlighted the collapse of “One Country, Two Systems,” Asahi minimized the issue, leaving readers unaware of its significance. The article exposes the consequences of selective reporting on freedom and human rights.

June 23, 2016
I wrote that if it were revealed how the Chinese and South Korean intelligence services view Asahi Shimbun and how they have worked on it, Asahi Shimbun might not be able to exist as a media organization.
The pages of Asahi itself spoke volumes about the high probability that this suspicion is correct.
The following is from the June 18 issue of the Nikkei.
All emphasis in the text other than the headline and the passages marked with asterisks are mine.
Doubts Over Hong Kong’s “One Country, Two Systems” Chinese Authorities’ Detention Practices Exposed by Bookstore Staff
[Hong Kong = Yasuo Awai]
The case in which five people connected to the Causeway Bay Bookstore in Hong Kong, which sold books critical of the Chinese Communist Party, disappeared one after another has taken a new turn.
After about eight months, store manager Lam Wing-kee returned to Hong Kong and held a press conference, for the first time exposing the reality of his detention by Chinese authorities.
Doubts are spreading over “One Country, Two Systems,” which guarantees freedom of speech and publication in Hong Kong.
“This is not just my personal problem. It is an issue that concerns the freedom of all Hong Kong people.”
At a press conference on the night of the 16th, Lam emphasized that his detention by Chinese authorities was a human rights violation and a breach of One Country, Two Systems.
According to Lam, on October 24 last year, when he entered Shenzhen, Guangdong Province from Hong Kong, he was surrounded, blindfolded, handcuffed, and transported by train to Ningbo City in Zhejiang Province.
He was placed under house arrest in a small room and monitored 24 hours a day on the grounds that “shipping books to mainland China violates Chinese law.”
Those who detained him were not ordinary public security authorities, but a “Central Special Investigation Team” directly linked to the Party leadership.
The authorities temporarily released him on the condition that they could take a hard disk containing the bookstore’s customer list, including mainland shipping destinations.
Lam entered Hong Kong on the 14th and initially intended to return to the mainland, but after learning that many citizens were participating in demonstrations demanding the release of bookstore staff, he decided to remain in Hong Kong and reveal the truth.
In Hong Kong, books dealing with power struggles within the Chinese Communist Party and scandals involving its leaders circulate freely.
Such books are banned from sale in mainland China, but they were popular among tourists visiting Hong Kong as souvenirs.
Lam’s confession supported the view that the Xi Jinping leadership was on edge about the inflow of “banned books” into the mainland and detained bookstore staff.
Lam also revealed that when he contacted Lee Bo to obtain the hard disk, Lee told him that he had been “abducted in Hong Kong” by Chinese authorities.
If true, it would mean that Chinese investigative agencies operated in Hong Kong, a clear violation of One Country, Two Systems.
Lee Bo denied this on his Facebook page on the 17th.
Lee Bo, Cheung Chi-ping, and Lui Bo returned to Hong Kong in March, explaining that they had “entered the mainland of their own free will to cooperate in the investigation of shareholder Gui Minhai.”
Hong Kong media strongly believe that “Lee and others, fearing harm to relatives in mainland China, are aligning their accounts with the intentions of the Chinese authorities.”
Many readers who read this must have learned for the first time that One Country, Two Systems applies to Hong Kong and what it entails.
It was reported in a large space at the top of page seven, making it all the more likely to catch the eye.
By contrast, Asahi Shimbun reported the same matter in a small space at the bottom of page eleven.
Many readers must have overlooked it.
This clearly shows that subscribing to Asahi Shimbun alone leaves readers with no understanding of the fact that One Country, Two Systems applies to Hong Kong or what it means.
The following is from the June 18 issue of Asahi Shimbun.