HONG KONG: A Hong Kong lawmaker said Sunday he believes Chinese security officers kidnapped five publishing company employees who have gone missing in the city, possibly because of a planned book about the former love life of President Xi Jinping.

“Hong Kong people are very shocked and appalled,” Democratic legislator Albert Ho told a press conference.

The five work for a publishing house known for producing books critical of the Chinese government.

The disappearances add to growing unease that freedoms in the semi-autonomous Chinese city are being eroded.

Under Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, it enjoys freedom of speech and Chinese law enforcers have no right to operate in the city.

It is unclear where the men are or how they went missing.

Small groups of protesters marched through central Hong Kong Sunday, while activists expressed shock at the case that saw employee Lee Bo disappear last week.

Four of his colleagues from the Mighty Current publishing house went missing in October.

Ho said it was “outrageous” for Lee to have disappeared in the city.

“We have a reason to believe he was politically abducted and illegally transferred to the mainland,” he said.