Hong Kong Arrests Five Booksellers as Crackdown on Independent Bookstores Widens

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A Raid in Mong Kok

Hong Kong police searched two bookstores in the busy Kowloon district of Mong Kok on Wednesday, arresting five people: two men aged 37 and 57, and three women between 30 and 59 years old. Officers accused them of "doing an act with seditious intention," according to a police statement.

The stores involved were identified by local media as Have a Nice Stay, a shop founded by former journalists, and Greenfield Bookstore. Video and photo coverage from several outlets showed officers wearing vests marked "Police" carrying boxes out of the building housing Have a Nice Stay, with one bookseller seen being led away.

Authorities said the investigation began after Hong Kong customs officials flagged a shipment from overseas containing books they deemed seditious. Police did not disclose which titles were involved.

Have a Nice Stay had already announced plans to close by August 30, citing financial pressure and what it called an unpredictable boundary over which books might draw official scrutiny.

What "Sedition" Means in This Case

Police allege the five suspects displayed and sold publications inside the shops that stirred up hostility toward Hong Kong's government, courts, and police force. Under the city's security laws, "sedition" (acts or speech deemed to incite hatred or resistance against the authorities) can carry prison sentences.

This marks the third round of arrests targeting independent booksellers in 2026. In March, police detained the owner and staff of the Book Punch store, reportedly over the sale of a biography of jailed pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai, who is serving a 20-year sentence. In June, two more booksellers were arrested on similar grounds, along with an accusation of receiving money from foreign political groups.

The Bigger Picture: A Vanishing Industry

Hong Kong was once known across Asia for its outspoken, independent bookshops — spaces where mainland Chinese visitors could buy titles banned at home, and where activists and writers held talks and workshops. That scene has shrunk drastically since Beijing imposed its national security law on the city in mid-2020.

The law criminalizes broadly defined acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces, and has been used well beyond street protests — reaching into publishing, libraries, and even school reading lists. Independent shops that once carried political memoirs, protest histories, or books on the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown have faced growing pressure to pull such titles or shut down entirely.

International Reaction

The arrests drew swift condemnation from human rights groups and from Taiwan's government. Human Rights Watch China researcher Yalkun Uluyol said democratic governments should pressure Hong Kong authorities to release the booksellers.

Amnesty International's Asia deputy regional director, Sarah Brooks, said the use of sedition charges against bookshop staff shows how the city's national security apparatus is "being weaponized to silence dissenting voices and eradicate spaces for free thought."

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te also weighed in, writing on social media that independent bookstores are essential spaces for protecting free thought, and expressing solidarity with booksellers and cultural workers facing political pressure.

Hong Kong officials, for their part, maintain that the security legislation is necessary to preserve stability. The city's Secretary for Security, Chris Tang, has said the government will not compile a formal list of banned books, arguing such a list would be impractical.

Outlook

With three bookstore raids in a single year, critics argue Hong Kong's national security police are steadily narrowing what can be published, sold, or even displayed in the city — squeezing one of the last remaining outlets for open political discussion. Independent publishers have also reported being abruptly excluded from this year's Hong Kong Book Fair, adding to concerns that the crackdown extends beyond law enforcement into the wider publishing ecosystem.

Whether international pressure — from Taiwan, human rights organizations, or Western governments — will have any practical effect on Hong Kong's enforcement approach remains an open question. For now, the city's independent booksellers face a shrinking and increasingly uncertain space to operate.

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Sources

1. NPR / Associated Press: https://www.npr.org/2026/07/15/g-s1-133697/hong-kong-booksellers-arrested-for-allegedly-selling-seditious-books
2. Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/hong-kong-police-arrest-five-over-seditious-books-2026-07-16/
3. KSAT / Associated Press (with Amnesty International statement): https://www.ksat.com/business/2026/07/15/hong-kong-booksellers-are-reportedly-arrested-over-alleged-sales-of-seditious-publications/
4. Wikipedia, "Book censorship in Hong Kong" (Hintergrund zu früheren Vorfällen): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_censorship_in_Hong_Kong

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