The exteriors of the Greenfield Ebook Retailer is seen in Mong Kok district, Hong Kong, on Wednesday, July 15 2026.
Kanis Leung/AP
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Kanis Leung/AP
HONG KONG — Hong Kong authorities have raided two bookstores and arrested 5 individuals on suspicion of promoting allegedly seditious publications, native media reported Wednesday, within the newest step concentrating on impartial booksellers.
Movies and images from a number of media retailers confirmed officers sporting vests marked with “Police” seizing bins from the constructing housing Have A Good Keep, a bookshop based by former journalists. A bookseller was seen being taken away.
A couple of streets away an analogous scene performed out, with bins taken from the constructing housing Greenfield Ebook Retailer, in response to a video by on-line information outlet The Collective.
Police later mentioned they raided two shops in Mong Kok district, with out figuring out them. They arrested two males and three ladies on suspicion of breaching the 2024 nationwide safety legislation, in response to their assertion.
That is the third spherical of arrests linked to impartial bookstores after related operations in March and June that had been extensively seen as stifling dissent within the Asian monetary hub.
The brand new police assertion mentioned an investigation confirmed the 5 individuals had been suspected of displaying seditious supplies and promoting seditious publications on the premises. The publications’ content material contains stirring up hatred in opposition to the town’s authorities, judiciary and legislation enforcement businesses, it mentioned.
Customs officers referred the case after the invention of allegedly seditious books in a batch of products shipped to Hong Kong from abroad, police mentioned, with out specifying titles.
The bookstores had been closed throughout normal opening hours on Wednesday. Calls to Greenfield and a founding father of Have A Good Keep had been unanswered.
The exteriors of the bookstore ‘Have A Good Keep’ is seen in Prince Edward district, Hong Kong, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
Kanis Leung/AP
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Kanis Leung/AP
Have A Good Keep had already introduced it could shut down on Aug. 30. In a social media submit, it mentioned monetary difficulties and an elusive crimson line had been among the many components.
Hong Kong was as soon as recognized for its freedom of publication and freedom of expression. Some Chinese language residents crossed the border to purchase books deemed to be too politically delicate on the mainland.
Lam Wing-kee, the proprietor of Causeway Bay Books till his dying earlier this month, made worldwide headlines in 2016 when he revealed that he was held by Chinese language authorities after crossing from Hong Kong to the town of Shenzhen. 4 others affiliated with the bookstore in Hong Kong disappeared in late 2015.
Lam’s account shocked many individuals within the former British colony, which Beijing promised would keep its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years after its return to China in 1997.
Following political modifications after anti-government protests in 2019, impartial bookstores have been working in an much more difficult setting.
Authorities say the nationwide safety legal guidelines are essential for the town’s stability. Hong Kong’s Secretary for Safety Chris Tang has mentioned the federal government wouldn’t arrange an inventory of banned books, saying it could be pointless to implement in actuality.
In March, police arrested the proprietor and employees of the impartial Ebook Punch retailer, reportedly on suspicion of promoting seditious publications. They included the biography of former pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced to twenty years in jail in his nationwide safety case.
In June, Hong Kong police arrested two booksellers on suspicion of promoting seditious publications and receiving funds from international political organizations.
All had been later launched on bail.
