Bookstore arrests intensify pressure on Hong Kong independents
HKFP · 1 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong’s independent bookstore scene has come under renewed pressure after multiple arrests by national security police and a string of sudden closures. The latest developments have also pushed the long-standing links between local booksellers and Taiwanese publishers into sharper public focus.
Key Points
- Have a Nice Stay in Mong Kok had said in July it would close on August 30 because of financial strain and “unclear” political red lines, but it never reopened after staff were arrested the next day under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, also known as Article 23.
- HKFP reported a visitor named Helen found the bookstore’s top-floor premises behind a locked metal gate in August, after climbing four flights of stairs in the summer heat.
- Greenfield Bookstore staff were also arrested on the same day as the Have a Nice Stay case, and the shop announced its closure two weeks later.
- Elmbook said in early July that it was shutting down, while staff from Book Punch were arrested in March and staff from Hunter Bookstore were apprehended in June.
- This year, staff from four bookstores were arrested, after independent bookshops were again barred from the annual Hong Kong Book Fair earlier in the month.
Why It Matters
The latest enforcement action is narrowing the already limited space in which independent bookstores have operated since the national security law era began. Attention is now turning to whether cross-border supply links, especially with Taiwanese publishers, will face greater scrutiny after authorities said Customs intercepted books allegedly carrying seditious intent.