After arrests, Hong Kong issues warning to booksellers
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The authorities have cracked down on bookshops over alleged “seditious” material under Hong Kong’s 2024 national security law.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Hong Kong authorities arrested five people for selling "seditious" materials and warned booksellers to avoid selling items that endanger national security.
- Security chief Chris Tang compared booksellers' responsibilities to food vendors ensuring products do not breach laws or harm public safety.
- The crackdown follows Hong Kong's 2024 national security law, with unclear rules causing independent bookshops like Have a Nice Stay to announce closure due to fear of crossing "red lines."
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HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s security chief said on July 16 that booksellers must ensure that the items they sell “do not endanger national security”, a day after the authorities arrested five over “seditious” material.
National security police searched two bookshops on July 15 and arrested five people on suspicion of displaying and selling “items with seditious intent”, the latest in a string of crackdowns on independent bookshops.
AFP reporters saw officers lead a woman in handcuffs to a van and take away several boxes from Have a Nice Stay, a bookshop run by former journalists.
“If you are a bookseller, you have a responsibility to ensure that the books you sell do not endanger national security,” Security Secretary Chris Tang told reporters on July 16.
“I believe booksellers bear this responsibility,” he added, comparing it with food vendors being required to ensure the goods they sell do not “contain poison or breach the law”.
The authorities have cracked down on bookshops over alleged “seditious” material under Hong Kong’s home-grown national security law, passed in 2024 in addition to broader legislation imposed by Beijing after democracy protests seized the financial hub in 2019.
Tang did not provide details of which publications breached the rules, but said books that incite hatred against the authorities would be considered unlawful.
“The law is very clear. If you break the law, you have crossed the red line,” he said.
Tang reiterated that officials would not compile a list of banned books, saying the authorities would focus on the content of the books rather than the titles.
A day before the police raid, the Have a Nice Stay shop said it would close in August, citing “the elusive red line” as a factor, in a reference to blurry rules on which books are considered illegal.
“Our capacity is limited. We cannot possibly review every book, let alone judge which ones are ‘problematic’,” the shop said in a July 14 statement.
“For us, books are a space for knowledge and ideas, and this space ought to be boundless.” AFP
