Hong Kong police arrest five over ‘seditious’ books

HONG KONG, July 16 (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s national security police arrested five booksellers on suspected charges of “doing an act with seditious intention”, the government said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The city’s once-flourishing independent bookstore industry has dwindled since Beijing imposed sweeping national security legislation on the city in 2020. 

Many of these stores, which offered a broader range of political and social titles than those found in mainstream shops, had become vital outlets for Hong Kong’s civil society by hosting book talks and workshops.

Police said they received a referral from Hong Kong’s customs department stating that a “batch of books with seditious intention was intercepted inside a consignment shipped to Hong Kong from overseas.”

Officers searched two shops in Mong Kok, located in the city’s bustling Kowloon district, and arrested two men, aged 37 and 57, and three women, aged 30 to 59, the statement said.

“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 statement noted. 

It added that the publications involved incited hatred against Hong Kong’s government, the judiciary, and law enforcement agencies. “A batch of books with seditious intention was seized from the shops.”

The South China Morning Post identified the bookstores as ‘Have a Nice Stay’ and Greenfield Bookstore. ‘Have a Nice Stay’ had announced on Tuesday that it would close on August 30, citing reasons including financial losses and an “elusive red line” over what books may be considered problematic.

The arrests come after police in June arrested two owners of a bookshop in a separate case, who authorities said were displaying and selling publications with “seditious” content.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday that every independent bookstore is an important space for safeguarding 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 said.

Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in response to the arrests that “democratic governments should press the Hong Kong authorities to free these booksellers.”

(Reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong; additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Stephen Coates)