Hong Kong's Last Defiant Bookshop Closes Its Doors as Beijing's Grip Tightens

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Hundreds of people formed long lines outside a small bookstore in Hong Kong's Kowloon district on Sunday. They weren't there for a sale or a new release. They came to say goodbye.

The shop, called Have a Nice Stay, closed its doors permanently after years of operating as one of the last independent bookstores in a city where such spaces have become increasingly rare. Only 20 visitors were allowed inside the roughly 600-square-foot space at a time, so the line stretched down a staircase and out onto the street.

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A Bookstore Born From Crisis

Have a Nice Stay opened in 2022. It was founded by former journalists from Stand News, an independent outlet that shut down after Hong Kong's national security law took effect. Many of its founders had lost their jobs when a wave of independent news organizations closed following the law's introduction.

The bookstore quickly became more than a place to buy books. It hosted talks, workshops, and discussions that touched on politics and social issues rarely covered by mainstream retailers. For many residents, it was one of the few remaining public spaces where open conversation still felt possible.

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Police Raid Accelerates the End

In July 2026, national security police raided Have a Nice Stay along with another long-running bookstore, Greenfield Book Store, which had operated since 1976. Officers arrested several people connected to the two shops, accusing them of selling publications with "seditious intent." According to NPR, customs officials had flagged the allegedly seditious material after it was shipped to Hong Kong from overseas.

Following the raid, Have a Nice Stay briefly suspended operations before confirming it would close permanently on August 30, as it had already planned before police became involved. In a statement, the store said it could no longer manage the financial strain of running an independent bookshop in Hong Kong's difficult economic climate.

"We no longer have the ability, or perhaps the courage, to continue fulfilling the mission of using books to share knowledge drawn from a diversity of perspectives," the store wrote in an online statement.

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The Problem of Invisible "Red Lines"

Store owners repeatedly pointed to a lack of clarity from authorities about which books are considered acceptable. Officials have declined to specify which titles cross the line into "sedition," leaving booksellers to guess at the boundaries themselves.

"Government officials have made it clear that they will not specify which books may or may not be sold," the store said. "We cannot read every book, nor are we able to determine which books may be considered problematic."

Hong Kong's national security chief, Chris Tang, said after the July raids that booksellers are responsible for ensuring their inventory does not endanger national security, according to reporting picked up by the Japan Times. Critics argue this approach effectively forces store owners to censor themselves, since no clear rules exist to follow.

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Part of a Wider Crackdown

Have a Nice Stay is not the only bookstore caught up in this pressure. Earlier in 2026, national security police targeted three other independent bookstores over similar allegations, arresting employees at two of them. Greenfield Book Store, which closed around the same time as Have a Nice Stay, had operated in the city for fifty years before shutting down when its lease expired.

Hong Kong's independent bookstore scene has been shrinking steadily since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the city in 2020, followed by a homegrown version of the law passed locally in 2024. Many shops that once carried a wide range of political and social titles have either closed or quietly removed sensitive material from their shelves.

The city's most notorious bookseller case dates back to 2015, when five publishers and booksellers linked to Causeway Bay Books disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The store had built a reputation for selling gossip-driven, politically sensitive books about mainland Chinese leaders. All five men later reappeared in mainland Chinese custody and gave televised confessions related to their alleged offenses—confessions widely viewed by human rights observers as coerced.

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What This Means Going Forward

The closure of Have a Nice Stay leaves Hong Kong with even fewer spaces dedicated to open discussion and diverse viewpoints. For a city once known across Asia for its freedom of publication and expression, the trend suggests that pressure on independent voices is unlikely to ease anytime soon.

Whether any new independent bookstores will emerge to take their place remains an open question—one made harder to answer by the same uncertainty over "red lines" that pushed Have a Nice Stay to close.

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Sources

1. Reuters – Crowds flock to independent Hong Kong bookstore before shutters close: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/crowds-flock-independent-hong-kong-bookstore-before-shutters-close-2026-08-30/
2. NPR – Hong Kong booksellers arrested for allegedly selling seditious books: https://www.npr.org/2026/07/15/g-s1-133697/hong-kong-booksellers-arrested-for-allegedly-selling-seditious-books
3. The Japan Times – Hong Kong independent bookstores to close after police raid: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/07/29/asia-pacific/hong-kong-bookstores-close-police/

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