Hong Kong police arrest five booksellers in raids on independent bookshops over sedition allegations

Hong Kong police arrested five booksellers on July 15, 2026, during raids on two independent bookstores, Have A Nice Stay and Greenfield Book Store, over allegations of selling seditious publications. The arrests, carrying potential seven-year prison sentences under the 2024 national security law, mark the third such crackdown on independent booksellers in 2026. This escalation follows years of tightening censorship, including library book removals, tax audits, and exhibition bans since the 2020 National Security Law.

Independent bookstore closures

• ▪Have A Nice Stay bookstore in Hong Kong announced it would shut down on August 30, 2026, citing financial difficulties and an elusive red line
• ▪Mount Zero Books closed in 2024 after receiving warning letters from Hong Kong government departments and anonymous complaints
• ▪Elmbook bookstore announced it would close in April 2027 on its 30th anniversary after Hong Kong authorities barred it from exhibiting at the Hong Kong Book Fair

Bookseller sedition arrests

• ▪Hong Kong police arrested five booksellers on July 15, 2026, during raids on the independent bookstores Have A Nice Stay and Greenfield Book Store in Mong Kok
• ▪Hong Kong police previously arrested Book Punch owner Pong Yat-ming in March 2026 and Hunter Bookstore owner Leticia Wong in June 2026 for alleged sedition
• ▪Hong Kong customs officials referred the case to police after discovering allegedly seditious books in a batch of goods shipped from overseas
• ▪The five arrested booksellers face up to seven years in prison on suspicion of displaying and selling publications with seditious intention under the 2024 national security law

Beijing publishing market control

• ▪Chinese authorities abducted five independent Hong Kong booksellers in 2015, including Causeway Bay Books owner Lam Wing-kee, who was detained after crossing into Shenzhen
• ▪A 2015 Apple Daily exposé found that the Chinese government controls Hong Kong's three main bookstore chains and over 80 percent of the city's publishing market

National Security Law censorship

• ▪Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang stated that the government would not establish a list of banned books because it would be pointless to implement
• ▪Censorship in Hong Kong increased significantly after Beijing imposed the National Security Law in 2020 following the 2019 pro-democracy protests
• ▪Since late 2023, Hong Kong authorities have imposed tax audits on at least six independent bookstores

Public libraries book removal

• ▪Public and school libraries in Hong Kong have removed hundreds of sensitive book titles, including George Orwell's 1984, since the 2020 National Security Law
• ▪Hong Kong authorities barred independent bookstores Elmbook and Luckwin from exhibiting at the annual Hong Kong Book Fair on July 2, 2026

Community defiance efforts

• ▪Hong Kong readers created an online map of independent bookstores and booksellers organized alternative book fairs to support local shops
• ▪Hunter Bookstore owner Leticia Wong reopened her shop two weeks after her June 2026 arrest, decorating the window with a red heart made of sticky notes