Hong Kong police raid bookshops, arrest five over ‘seditious’ titles

Hong Kong police arrested five people Tuesday after raiding at least three independent bookshops across the city, saying the suspects were selling publications that incited hatred against government authorities. The operation marks one of the most sweeping crackdowns on the city’s book trade since the 2020 national security law came into force.

What happened during the raids

Officers descended on the shops in Mong Kok, Causeway Bay, and Sham Shui Po districts shortly after 9 a.m., seizing hundreds of books and printed materials. Four men and one woman, aged between 34 and 61, were taken into custody. Police didn’t specify the exact titles involved, but said the publications contained content deemed “seditious” under Hong Kong’s Crimes Ordinance, a colonial-era law that was quietly dusted off and expanded in recent years.

The raids lasted several hours. Staff were photographed being escorted out of at least one shop while officers in plain clothes carried cardboard boxes to waiting vans.

Authorities defend the action

A police spokesperson said the force had received complaints about the materials and launched an investigation before executing the search warrants. “The publications in question contained content that incited hatred and disaffection against the government and judicial authorities,” the spokesperson said. “We acted in accordance with the law.”

But critics weren’t buying it. Human rights groups and press freedom advocates were quick to condemn the operation, calling it another step in the steady erosion of civil liberties that once defined Hong Kong’s open society. And it’s hard to argue with that characterisation when booksellers are being led away in handcuffs over titles that, in many cities, would sit unremarkably on a library shelf.

A city with a complicated history of bookselling

This isn’t the first time Hong Kong’s independent book trade has found itself in the crosshairs. The disappearance of five Causeway Bay Books employees in 2015 and 2016 — some of whom resurfaced in mainland China — sent shockwaves through the international community and haunted the city’s publishing scene for years. That episode involved books critical of Chinese leadership. Tuesday’s crackdown suggests the appetite for such operations hasn’t dimmed.

Since the national security law passed in June 2020, more than 260 people have been arrested under its provisions. Libraries pulled thousands of books for review. Publishers self-censored. Some left altogether.

What comes next

The five arrested remained in police custody as of Tuesday evening, with investigators saying charges could follow within 48 hours. Legal observers say the suspects could face up to two years in prison if convicted under the Crimes Ordinance’s sedition provisions, though sentences have varied considerably in past cases.

It’s still unclear whether the shops will be permitted to reopen or whether additional premises are being investigated. What is clear is that for Hong Kong’s already battered independent publishing community, Tuesday was yet another reminder of just how much the city has changed.