In July, Hong Kong’s cultural sector found itself in the crosshairs. Two independent bookstores, including one with a history of 50 years, were raided. Books were seized, and their staff members were arrested.
The incident drew worldwide attention, sparking strong reactions from booklovers in Taiwan.
HKFP rounds up national security-related developments from the past month.
Bookstores raided, staff arrested
On July 15, Hong Kong’s national security police raided two independent bookstores, namely Have a Nice Stay and Greenfield Bookstore. They arrested a total of five people suspected of committing a sedition offence.
In a statement published on the night of July 15, the government said the five people were suspected of “doing with a seditious intention an act or acts that had a seditious intention,” an offence under Article 23, the city’s homegrown security law.
A police investigation alleged that the five had displayed and sold items carrying seditious intent. The contents could stir hatred for the Hong Kong government, the Judiciary and law enforcement bodies, the statement read.
State-backed newspaper Wen Wei Po reported that Hong Kong Customs had previously identified some books with seditious intent among a batch of goods shipped to Hong Kong from overseas.
The bookstore raid was a joint operation between Hong Kong Customs and the Hong Kong Police Force. Hong Kong security minister Chris Tang defended the raids and arrests, saying that the law is clear.
But he said on July 17 that authorities would not provide a list of books deemed problematic, and that booksellers must instead take responsibility to ensure titles on their shelves are lawful.
Bookstore announces closure after raid
Two weeks after the police raid, Greenfield Bookstore, operating since 1976, announced that it would close after its lease expires.
“Thank you for walking with us, through wind and rain, for 50 years since our opening,” Greenfield Bookstore said in social media posts in the early hours of Wednesday.
It did not specify when its lease will be up. Greenfield is the third bookstore to announce its closure in a month.
The raids came a day after Have a Nice Stay said it would shut down in a month’s time, citing financial difficulties and “unclear red lines.”
Another independent bookstore, Elmbook, also announced a week before the raids that it will close its physical store. The announcement came after it, and Luck Win Bookshop, were reportedly banned from taking part in the annual Hong Kong Book Fair.
Reactions from Taiwan
Hong Kong authorities are checking for “banned books” delivered from Taiwan, a Taiwanese official has said, prompting local publishers to self-censor before shipping.
The deputy minister of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Liang Wen-chieh told a press conference on July 23 that Hong Kong’s national security authorities had been monitoring imported publications for banned books: “So far, they have not publicised a list of books they consider prohibited,” Liang said in Mandarin. “We can only collect information on a case-by-case basis regarding the books and their nature.”
Taiwan’s Formosa Television (FTVN) first reported on July 21 that Hong Kong firm Jaguar Logistics’ Taiwan branch had issued a notice to clients on its new policies, which state that it will not ship “prohibited publications” to the city, and that clients must provide a list of book titles in shipments.
It also said it will not ship books to Hong Kong bookstores under investigation by Hong Kong police.
US ends state of emergency over Hong Kong
US officials confirmed on July 17 that Washington will not extend its state of emergency over what it deemed threats posed by Beijing’s hardline national security law in Hong Kong. Sanctions of several top officials were lifted.
Although the US also axed its preferential trade treatment for the financial hub in July 2020, it remains unclear whether that will also be restored.
US President Donald Trump stripped Hong Kong of preferential trade treatment in 2020 during his first term, citing Beijing’s clampdown on the city.
In declaring the national emergency at the time, his order said that China’s actions to undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy contributed to an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security in the US.
Joshua Wong to face sentencing
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong is set to plead guilty and face sentencing for a foreign collusion charge next month, marking his second conviction under the national security law.
Wong is slated to appear at the High Court on September 2, according to the Judiciary’s court diary released in early July. The diary states he will sit for a plea and sentence hearing, indicating that Wong will plead guilty.
Wong is accused of conspiring with self-exiled activist Nathan Law and “other persons unknown” between July 1 and November 23, 2020, to request foreign countries, organisations, or individuals based overseas to impose sanctions, blockades or engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China.
Dentist loses job after solo protest
A Hong Kong dentist said in late July that she was fired days after she staged a solo protest on the seventh anniversary of a notorious mob attack in 2019 that took place in Yuen Long.
Dentist Lee Ying-chi said on July 30 that she was terminated with immediate effect a week prior, three days after she brought a watermelon to Yuen Long MTR station to mark the attacks which took place during the 2019 protests and unrest.
Lee told podcast Waiting Bird on Thursday that, following her protest on the anniversary, she was called to meet with HR at her dental clinic. She was then invited to resign.
“They asked me to sympathise with their situation,” Lee said in Cantonese. “They said the organisation is big, and if they don’t do this, it would affect the organisation’s partnership with the government.”
One of the alleged attackers from the white-clad gang was a local farmer nicknamed “Watermelon Man,” who was arrested but not prosecuted following the incident, according to local media.
On July 21, 2019, over 100 rod-wielding men stormed Yuen Long MTR station, leaving 45 people injured – including journalists, protesters, commuters and pro-democracy lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting. Police were criticised for responding slowly to the incident, with some officers seen leaving the scene or interacting with the white-clad men.
Wanted activist detained in Bangkok
An activist wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police was reportedly blocked by Thai authorities from flying to Canada for resettlement in middle of July.
Zhang Xinyan, who had been detained in Thailand since her May arrest for allegedly overstaying her visa, was meant to board a flight to Vancouver on July 8, Canada-based activist Zang Xihong said on X.
Zhang, 55, is wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police for allegedly committing subversion. She was involved in the “Hong Kong Parliament,” a group of overseas activists who held unofficial polls outside the city to form a shadow legislature to “pursue the ideal of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong.”
Sheng Xue, a Chinese Canadian activist who has been trying to assist Zhang, said on Facebook on Wednesday that the activist had finally been allowed to leave, and arrived at Vancouver International Airport on Monday morning, Canadian time.
Mentally impaired waiter sentenced
A mentally impaired man was jailed for two years and four months on July 20 for inciting subversion by promoting a pro-Taiwan political party through online posts and putting up posters in public places.
Waiter Chan Ho-hin, 23, was sentenced at the District Court following his guilty plea earlier in July.
Judge Stanley Chan said the defendant’s offence spanned 10 months. During this time, he made posts on social media platforms and put up posters in public to promote the Taiwan-based Revive the Republic of China Freedom Party.
Defence lawyers pleaded for leniency on the grounds that the defendant has a mild intellectual disability and that he was merely “parroting” the information he saw online.
Judge Chan accepted that the defendant’s mental condition might have impaired his political understanding, but said that the court must not treat national security risks lightly.
Two with autism pleaded guilty
Two Hong Kong men pleaded guilty in early July to conspiracy to commit secession over joining a Taiwan-based group that advocates independence for the city.
Chan Tai-sum, 27, and Ng Chi-tung, 25, appeared at the District Court on July 3 to face the charge under the national security law Beijing imposed in 2020, according to local media reports.
The defence submitted in mitigation that both defendants have autism; Chan had sought treatment since the age of 12, and Ng was diagnosed when he was in primary school.
Lawyers for Chan added that the defendant was sentenced to a year in jail for sedition in 2022, leaving him “isolated” after his release later that year.
District Judge Ernest Lin remanded the pair in custody pending sentencing on July 29. They have been detained since their arrest in July last year.
A third defendant in the case, a 16-year-old boy, was jailed for three and a half years in December last year after pleading guilty to the same offence.
People searched on Handover anniversary
On July 1, anniversary of Hong Kong’s Handover to China in 1997, Hong Kong police stopped and searched 15 people, citing national security and public order.
The 15, who included five men and 10 women aged between 25 and 73, were stopped in Wan Chai and eastern Hong Kong Island, police said in a response to HKFP.
Among them, a 32-year-old man was taken away by police for further investigation after being stopped and searched. He was later released.
Prosecution and arrest figures
As of July 1, a total of 409 people have been arrested for “cases involving suspected acts or activities that endanger national security” since Beijing’s national security law came into effect, according to the Security Bureau. That figure includes those arrested under Article 23 and for other offences.
Of the 212 people and five companies that have so far been charged, 183 people and four companies have been convicted or are awaiting sentencing.
In total, 103 people and four companies have been charged under Beijing’s national security law, with 79 persons and three companies convicted. 14 people have been charged under Article 23, 12 of whom have been convicted.
