Five arrested in Hong Kong bookstore raids in ‘seditious’ materials crackdown

Hong Kong authorities have raided two bookstores and arrested five people on suspicion of selling allegedly seditious publications, in the latest step targeting independent booksellers.Videos and photos from multiple media outlets on Wednesday showed officers wearing vests marked with “police” seizing boxes from the building that houses Have a Nice Stay, a bookshop founded by former journalists. AFP reporters saw officers also lead away a woman in handcuffs to a van.A few streets away a similar scene played out, with boxes taken from the building housing the Greenfield Book Store, according to a video by online news outlet The Collective.Police said in a statement they arrested two men and three women on suspicion of displaying and offering for sale items with “seditious intention”, breaching the 2024 national security law, after raiding two stores in the Mong Kok district, without identifying the locations. AFP reporters witnessed the raid on 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 linked to independent bookstores after similar operations in March and June that were widely seen as stifling dissent in the Asian financial hub.Hong Kong was once known for its freedom of publication and freedom of expression. Some Chinese residents crossed the border to buy books deemed to be too politically sensitive on the mainland.The city’s security chief, Chris Tang, told reporters on Thursday: “If you are a bookseller, you have a responsibility to ensure that the books you sell do not endanger national security.”“I believe booksellers bear this responsibility,” he added, comparing it to food vendors being required to ensure the goods they sell do not “contain poison or breach the law”.Police officers load confiscated items from independent bookstore Have a Nice Stay. Photograph: Tommy Wang/AFP/Getty ImagesThe police statement said an investigation alleged the five people were suspected of displaying seditious materials and selling seditious publications on the premises. The publications included content that stirred up hatred against the city’s government, judiciary and law enforcement agencies, it said.Customs officials referred the case after the discovery of allegedly seditious books in a batch of goods shipped to Hong Kong from overseas, police said, without specifying titles.Tang did not provide details on which publications breached the rules, but said books that incited 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.The Have a Nice Stay bookstore had already announced it would shut down on 30 August. 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 crossing from Hong Kong to the city of Shenzhen. Four others affiliated with the bookstore in Hong Kong disappeared in late 2015.Lam’s account shocked many people in the former British colony, which Beijing promised would maintain its western-style civil liberties for 50 years after its return to China in 1997.Following political changes after anti-government protests in 2019, independent bookstores have been operating in an even more challenging environment.Authorities say the national security laws are crucial for the city’s stability. Tang has said the government would not set up a list of banned books, saying it would be pointless to implement in reality.In March, police arrested the owner and staff of the independent Book Punch store, reportedly on suspicion of selling seditious publications. They included the biography of the former pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in his national security case.In June, Hong Kong police arrested two booksellers on suspicion of selling seditious publications and receiving funds from foreign political organisations.All were later released on bail.With Associated Press and Agence France-Presse