Hong Kong’s security chief has said booksellers have the responsibility to ensure the titles they sell do not threaten national security, following this week’s raids on two shops and the arrest of five people.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang announces the beginning of the public consultation period for Hong Kong’s homegrown security law, Article 23, on January 30, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang said on Thursday 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.
“Just like merchants selling food have to make sure their food won’t make people sick. That they are not selling poison and not breaking the law,” Tang told reporters in Cantonese.
“I believe booksellers have the same responsibility,” he said.
Tang’s remarks came one day after national security police raided independent shops Have a Nice Stay and Greenfield Bookstore, arresting five on suspicion of sedition.
The government said in a statement on Wednesday that the five had displayed and sold items carrying “seditious intent,” stirring hatred against the authorities.
Veteran journalist Sum Wan-wah, who co-founded Have a Nice Stay in 2022, was seen leaving North Point Police Station at around 10am on Friday, according to local media. A Have a Nice Stay shopkeeper was also pictured leaving the Cheung Sha Wan police station.
A woman is escorted away from ‘Have a Nice Stay’ independent bookstore by Hong Kong police on July 15, 2026. Her t-shirt reads: “I am staff of a bookstore.” Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Wednesday’s arrests marked the third time this year that authorities targeted independent bookstores and their operators for allegedly selling seditious titles.
The arrests raised concerns over what books would be considered seditious by the authorities and where the red lines lie. In 2022, Hong Kong’s government cited security reasons for refusing to tell a legislator which books had been removed from public libraries because of the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Tang said on Thursday that the government would not make a list of banned books, as offenders could avoid detection by changing the wording of titles.
He said the “law was clear” and that authorities did not target specific sectors, despite the string of arrests of booksellers.
“If any shops or individuals engage in any activity that endangers national security… we will take enforcement action,” he said.
Greenfield Bookstore in Mong Kok on July 15, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
In March, independent bookseller Pong Yat-ming and three staff members of his Book Punch store were arrested on suspicion of selling seditious titles , including a biography of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
In June, Hunter Bookstore owner Letitia Wong was arrested for allegedly displaying and selling “seditious” titles and “receiving multiple remittances from foreign political organisations.” Her husband was apprehended on suspicion of committing the same offence.
Have a Nice Stay announced on Tuesday, a day before the police raids, that it would close down at the end of August, citing “unclear red lines.”