In the latest high-profile police operation focused on independent booksellers in Hong Kong, five individuals connected to two local bookstores were taken into custody on Wednesday, marking the third mass arrest targeting independent book retailers in the city within just four months. The next day, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Security Chris Tang defended the enforcement action during a press briefing at the city’s legislative building, pushing back against growing public criticism over vague boundaries for permissible content and threats to long-held free expression rights in the special administrative region.
Tang emphasized that the requirements of Hong Kong’s national security legislation are clear and unambiguous, drawing a parallel to common consumer protection rules to frame the responsibility of book vendors. “If you are a bookseller, you have the responsibility to make sure the books you sell won’t endanger national security. It’s equal to, for example, when you are selling food, you need to ensure the food won’t cause a stomach ache and is not either poison or illegal,” Tang told reporters.
When pressed on whether authorities would release a public, standardized list of banned publications to give vendors clear guidance, the top security official rejected the proposal, arguing that a pre-approved list would undermine enforcement efforts against materials intended to undermine national sovereignty. “We will not let criminals off the hook like this,” Tang added.
Wednesday’s operation targeted two distinct independent book outlets: Have A Nice Stay, a relatively new shop founded by a collective of former local journalists, and Greenfield Book Store, a long-standing independent retailer that has operated in Hong Kong for years. Police confirmed in an official statement that the five arrestees face allegations of displaying and distributing seditious materials that are designed to stir up widespread resentment and hatred toward the Hong Kong government, the city’s judiciary, and local law enforcement institutions.
In what serves as a striking precursor to the raid, Have A Nice Stay had already publicly announced plans to permanently cease operations on August 30. In a social media post shared ahead of the police action, the bookstore cited two core reasons for its closure: persistent financial struggles, and the uncertainty created by an unclear “red line” defining acceptable content. The shop’s management noted that it lacks the resources and institutional capacity to vet every title it carries for compliance with national security standards, leaving it unable to operate without constant risk of penalty.
This week’s arrest operation is the third crackdown on independent booksellers since March, when police detained the owner and multiple staff members of Book Punch, another independent Hong Kong bookstore, also on suspicion of selling seditious publications. Among the titles that reportedly drew law enforcement attention in that case was a biography of Jimmy Lai, the former pro-democracy media tycoon who was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison following a high-profile national security trial. A second round of arrests followed in June, when police took two booksellers into custody on charges of selling seditious publications and receiving illegal funding from foreign political organizations.
Critics of the ongoing enforcement actions argue that the broad, flexible definition of seditious content and the refusal to issue a clear public list of prohibited titles creates a chilling effect on free expression in Hong Kong, forcing independent book retailers to self-censor broadly to avoid legal consequences, and eroding the city’s tradition of open access to diverse political and social commentary.