Hong Kong authorities have raided two bookstores and arrested five people on suspicion of allegedly selling seditious publications, in the latest move targeting independent booksellers.
Videos and photos from multiple media outlets on Wednesday showed officers wearing vests with “Police” written on them, seizing boxes from the building that houses Have a Nice Stay, a bookstore founded by former journalists. AFP correspondents saw officers handcuff a woman and lead her into a van.
A similar scene showed boxes being taken away from the building that housed the Greenfield Book Store a few streets away, according to a video from online news outlet The Collective.
Police said in a statement that they arrested two men and three women on suspicion of displaying and offering items for sale with “seditious intent”, in violation of the 2024 national security law, after raiding two shops in Mong Kok district, without identifying the locations. AFP journalists witnessed the raid at Have a Nice Stay, and local media, citing unnamed sources, said officers had searched the Greenfield Book Store.
It is the third round of arrests involving independent bookstores, following similar actions in March and June that were widely seen as a crackdown on dissent in the Asian financial hub.
Hong Kong was once known for freedom of publication and freedom of expression. Some Chinese residents crossed the border to buy books considered too politically sensitive on the mainland.
City security chief Chris Tang told reporters on Thursday: “If you are a bookseller, it is your responsibility to ensure that the books you sell do not endanger national security.”
“I believe that booksellers take this responsibility,” he said, comparing it to food sellers who must ensure that the goods they sell “do not contain poison or violate the law”.
The investigation alleged that five people were suspected of displaying seditious material and selling seditious publications on the premises, the police statement said. It said the publications contained material that spread hatred against the city government, judiciary and law enforcement agencies.
Police said without specifying the title that customs officials referred the case after allegedly discovering seditious books in a batch of goods sent to Hong Kong from overseas.
Tang did not provide details of which publications violated the rules, but said books inciting hatred against officials would be considered illegal. “The law is very clear. If you break the law, you have crossed the red line,” he said.
Tang reiterated that authorities would not compile a list of banned books, adding that authorities would focus on the content of the books rather than the title.
Have a Nice Stay Bookstore had already announced that it would close on August 30. In a social media post, it said financial difficulties and an elusive red line were among the factors.
Lam Wing-kee, the owner of Causeway Bay Books until his death earlier this month, made international headlines in 2016 when he revealed he was held by Chinese authorities after entering the city of Shenzhen from Hong Kong. Four other people associated with a bookstore in Hong Kong disappeared in late 2015.
Lam’s description shocked many in the former British colony, which had promised Beijing it would maintain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years after returning to China in 1997.
Following political changes following anti-government protests in 2019, independent bookstores are operating in an even more challenging environment.
Officials say national security laws are vital to the city’s stability. Tang has said that the government will not establish a list of banned books, as it would be futile to enforce it in reality.
In March, police arrested the owner and employees of the independent Book Punch store on suspicion of allegedly selling seditious publications. They included a biography of former pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in a national security case.
In June, Hong Kong police arrested two booksellers on suspicion of selling seditious publications and receiving funds from foreign political organizations.
Later everyone was released on bail.
With the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
