Hong Kong's Independent Bookstores Silenced One by One, Five Arrested
Hong Kong police raided two independent bookstores and arrested five people on suspicion of displaying and selling seditious publications. This operation marks the third round of arrests in a series of crackdowns on independent bookstores, following similar actions in March and June. More broadly, the raids are viewed as an effort to silence freedom and dissent under the semi-autonomous territory’s draconian National Security Law.
According to media reports, police raided a store named Have A Nice Stay, founded by a former journalist, as well as Greenfield Book Store. Footage shared by various media showed officers wearing vests marked ‘Police’ seizing several boxes from Have A Nice Stay. AFP reported seeing a woman handcuffed and led into a police vehicle from the premises. A similar incident was reported a few blocks away, where boxes were removed from the building housing Greenfield Book Store.
A police statement confirmed that two shops in Mong Kok district were raided, without naming the stores. The raid on Have A Nice Stay occurred a day after the store announced on Facebook that it would close on 30 August 2026, citing reasons including ‘uncertainty in the social environment’ and financial difficulties.
Police said the stores were searched by the National Security Department after customs officials reported finding internationally shipped books suspected of containing seditious content. The police statement noted the publications included attempts to incite hatred against the government, judiciary, and law enforcement agencies in the territory, though it did not specify the titles of the books. The five individuals arrested—two men and three women—are suspected of violating the 2024 National Security Law. The offence carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison under the Hong Kong National Security Law, which came into effect in 2024 as an addition to the 2020 legislation imposed by China following mass pro-democracy demonstrations.
Hong Kong’s once-thriving independent bookstore industry has continued to shrink since the laws were enacted. In June 2026, two employees of Hunter Bookstore were arrested, and in March 2026, four workers at Punch Bookstore were detained for allegedly selling publications deemed ‘seditious’.
Amnesty International said in a statement on Wednesday that the use of the ‘sedition’ clause to target bookstores once again demonstrates how Hong Kong’s national security apparatus is ‘weaponised to silence dissenting voices and eradicate spaces for free thought and debate’. Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director Sarah Brooks said, ‘The escalating attacks on Hong Kong’s independent bookstores this year confirm the grim reality of a city where you can be criminalised simply for the books on your shelf.’
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday that every independent bookstore is a vital space for preserving thought. ‘We want to express our concern and respect to all bookstores and cultural workers who continue to stand firm in difficult circumstances. Thought and writing should not be imprisoned by political pressure,’ Lai wrote on Facebook. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and considers Lai a ‘separatist’.