{"id":2765,"date":"2026-07-16T07:07:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T07:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=2765"},"modified":"2026-07-16T07:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T07:07:02","slug":"hong-kong-booksellers-reportedly-arrested-over-alleged-sales-of-seditious-publications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=2765","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong booksellers reportedly arrested over alleged sales of seditious publications"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONG KONG \u2014 Hong Kong authorities have raided two bookstores and arrested five people on suspicion of selling allegedly seditious publications, local media reported Wednesday, in the latest step targeting independent booksellers.<\/p>\n

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Videos and photos from multiple media outlets showed officers wearing vests marked with \u201cPolice\u201d seizing boxes from the building housing Have A Nice Stay, a bookshop founded by former journalists. A bookseller was seen being taken away.<\/p>\n

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A few streets away a similar scene played out, with boxes taken from the building housing Greenfield Book Store, according to a video by online news outlet The Collective.<\/p>\n

Police later said they raided two stores in the Mong Kok district, without identifying them. They arrested two men and three women on suspicion of breaching the 2024 national security law, according to their statement.<\/p>\n

This is the third round of arrests linked to independent bookstores after similar operations in March and June that were widely seen as stifling dissent in the Asian financial hub.<\/p>\n

The new police statement said an investigation showed the five people were suspected of displaying seditious materials and selling seditious publications on the premises. The publications\u2019 content includes stirring up hatred against the city\u2019s government, judiciary and law enforcement agencies, it said.<\/p>\n

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Customs officials referred the case after the discovery of allegedly seditious books in a batch of goods shipped to Hong Kong from overseas, police said, without specifying titles.<\/p>\n

The bookstores were closed during usual opening hours on Wednesday. Calls to Greenfield and a founder of Have A Nice Stay went unanswered.<\/p>\n

Have A Nice Stay had already announced it would shut down on Aug. 30. In a social media post, it said financial difficulties and an elusive red line were among the factors.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong was once known for its freedom of publication and freedom of expression. Some Chinese residents crossed the border to buy books deemed to be too politically sensitive on the mainland.<\/p>\n

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Lam Wing-kee, the owner of Causeway Bay Books until his death earlier this month, made international headlines in 2016 when he revealed that he was held by Chinese authorities after crossing from Hong Kong to the city of Shenzhen. Four others affiliated with the bookstore in Hong Kong disappeared in late 2015.<\/p>\n

Lam\u2019s account shocked many people in the former British colony, which Beijing promised would maintain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years after its return to China in 1997.<\/p>\n

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Following political changes after anti-government protests in 2019, independent bookstores have been operating in an even more challenging environment.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International\u2019s Asia deputy regional director Sarah Brooks said the use of \u201csedition\u201d offenses to target bookstores demonstrated how the city\u2019s national security framework \u201cis being weaponized to silence dissenting voices and eradicate spaces for free thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s escalating attacks on Hong Kong\u2019s independent bookstores hammer home the chilling reality of what the city has become: a place where you can be criminalized simply for what\u2019s on your bookshelf,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Authorities say the national security laws are crucial for the city\u2019s stability. Hong Kong\u2019s Secretary for Security Chris Tang has said the government will not set up a list of banned books, saying it would be pointless to implement in reality.<\/p>\n

In March, police arrested the owner and staff of the independent store Book Punch, reportedly on suspicion of selling seditious publications. They included the biography of former pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in his national security case.<\/p>\n

In June, Hong Kong police arrested two booksellers on suspicion of selling seditious publications and receiving funds from foreign political organizations.<\/p>\n

Read more New York Times files motion to quash subpoenas served on journalists over Air Force One coverage<\/a><\/p>\n

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All were later released on bail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hong Kong authorities have raided two bookstores and arrested five people on suspicion of selling allegedly seditious publications, local media reported Wednesday, in the latest step targeting independent booksellers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia"],"yoast_head":"\nHong Kong booksellers reportedly arrested over alleged sales of seditious publications - Trusted Moving Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=2765\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hong Kong booksellers reportedly arrested over alleged sales of seditious publications - 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