Hong Kong’s national security police have taken five booksellers into custody on suspicion of “doing an act with seditious intention,” according to a government statement released Wednesday evening.
The arrests are the latest blow to Hong Kong’s independent bookstore scene, which has shrunk significantly since Beijing enacted sweeping national security legislation over the city in 2020. These shops had long served as important gathering places for Hong Kong’s civil society, offering a wider variety of political and social books than mainstream retailers and hosting events like book talks and workshops.
According to police, the investigation was triggered by a tip from Hong Kong’s customs department, which reported intercepting “a batch of books with seditious intention” inside a shipment arriving in Hong Kong from overseas.
Officers conducted searches at two shops in Mong Kok, a busy area within the city’s Kowloon district. Two men, aged 37 and 57, and three women between the ages of 30 and 59 were taken into custody.
“Police investigations revealed that the five arrestees are suspected of displaying items with seditious intent and selling publications with seditious content inside the shops,” the official statement read. Authorities added that the materials in question were found to incite hatred toward Hong Kong’s government, its judiciary, and law enforcement. “A batch of books with seditious intention was seized from the shops,” the statement continued.
The South China Morning Post identified the two shops as ‘Have a Nice Stay’ and Greenfield Bookstore. ‘Have a Nice Stay’ had already announced the day before the raid that it planned to shut its doors on August 30, citing financial difficulties and what it described as an “elusive red line” regarding which books might be considered problematic.
Wednesday’s arrests follow a separate incident in June, when police arrested two owners of another bookshop on similar charges of displaying and selling publications deemed to have “seditious” content.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te took to Facebook on Thursday to weigh in on the situation, writing that every independent bookstore represents a vital space for protecting freedom of thought.
“We wish to express our concern and respect to all bookstores and cultural workers who continue to stand their ground in difficult circumstances. Thought and writing should not be imprisoned because of political pressure,” Lai wrote.
Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, responded to the arrests by calling on governments to act, stating that “democratic governments should press the Hong Kong authorities to free these booksellers.”
