“Broadcasted confessions are the hallmark of politically-motivated prosecutions: they have increased in frequency since Xi Jinping came to power,” Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty’s East Asia director, told Quartz in an email.

The disappearance of five booksellers, including Gui, has sparked unprecedented criticism from Hong Kong’s normally pro-Beijing government. After employee Lee Bo went missing on Dec. 30—believed to have been abducted by mainland security officials—Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying unexpectedly spoke out:

“The freedom of the press, the freedom of publication and the freedom of expression are protected by laws in Hong Kong,” said Leung, who has been unrelentingly derided as a puppet of Beijing. “It is unacceptable if mainland legal agencies enforced law in Hong Kong.”

Two titles were being considered for the book about Xi’s love life, according to Willy Wo-lap Lam, an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong: The Lovers of Xi Jinping or Xi Jinping and His Six Women.

The article incorrectly said earlier the crime Gui confessed to occurred in 2004, not 2003.

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