The family of a Hongkonger detained in mainland China has set up a dedicated Facebook page, named “Andy is Missing,” in hopes of calling international attention to his plight and seeking support to safeguard his rights while in custody.

“My biggest wish is to see his safe release,” the sister of the detainee, Andy Li, told local news outlet inmediahk.net about a month after his arrest by Guangdong off

She said the family wanted to seek help from the global community to call for evidence from the Chinese authorities confirming the physical location of her brother, and to allow the family’s appointed lawyer to see him.

Li, who was earlier arrested in Hong Kong under national security laws, was said to be making an escape attempt to Taiwan with 11 other activists from the city in late August when Guangdong coast guard intercepted their speedboat. All 12 have since been held in mainland China on suspicion of illegally crossing the border, according to the Hong Kong police.

Chinese authorities claim that the group is in custody at the Yantian District Detention Centre in Shenzhen, but no lawyers assigned by the affected families have been able to see them in person and there is no news on how they are doing in the opaque mainland detention system.

Li’s sister slammed the Hong Kong government’s lukewarm response, emphasising that it was a basic human right for lawyers appointed by the families to have access to the arrestees.

“The Chinese government is always talking about the importance of acting according to the law and of judicial transparency, but in reality we cannot see any of it from what we have experienced,” she said.

The multiple arrests taking place in Hong Kong one after another felt ridiculous, she said, adding that “it’s out of control, out of imagination, and I have no idea what is going on.”

Her elder brother was an “otaku” who loved Japanese anime, she said, but he would always be caring to the family and to his little sister. He was an intelligent man who had taught himself computer programming and started his own business in information technology, she added.

The sister said she had never imagined that Li would turn into an arrestee under national security laws and then be forced to resort to self-exile, but instead ended up in mainland Chinese detention.

They had always been a politically apathetic family, the sister said, but when she realised Li had become a passionate youth participant of Hong Kong’s democracy movement, she appreciated what he was doing.

The cost of the affected families speaking up was greater than she had expected, she said, but “he is my family member. If we ourselves don’t take up the cudgels and fight for them, they will likely disappear forever.”

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