A nightmare comes true for 12 Hong Kongers arrested at sea, now in Chinese detention

HONG KONG - The young woman keeps two timers on her phone: one counting down until her anniversary with her boyfriend, the other tracking how many days it has been since he vanished at sea.

She'd noticed him acting strange in the days before Aug. 23: tense and withdrawn, but abruptly telling her "Take care" and that she was loved.

They had gotten together in December after he was bailed out of detention, one of more than 10,000 Hong Kong people who've been arrested since last year in connection with mass protests against increasing Chinese control over the semi-autonomous territory. He'd become constantly on guard after that, afraid of being locked up again.

Then he disappeared. For three days, his girlfriend and family had no information of his whereabouts. They worried he'd been kidnapped or even killed. Word came on Aug. 26: The Chinese coast guard had stopped a boat