Hong Kong arrests two for allegedly selling ‘seditious’ material

Hong Kong police arrested two people on June 25 for allegedly selling items with seditious intent, with local reports identifying them as the proprietors of the independent bookstore Hunter and the biography of jailed media mogul Jimmy Lai as one of the items.

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The two people arrested are suspected of displaying items with seditious intent and selling publications with seditious content inside the shop, including materials inciting hatred against the... government, the judiciary, and law enforcement agencies.

Authorities stated the suspects, a 33-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man, are accused of displaying and selling publications that incite hatred against the government, judiciary, and law enforcement. Police also reported the suspects received funds from foreign political organizations. Books and documents deemed seditious were seized from their shop and residence.

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These arrests aren’t about public safety – they’re about censorship and fear.

Local media captured images of officers removing lyrics from a Cantonese song, a reference to the 2019 democracy protests, from the shop window. The duo faces significant prison time under Hong Kong's national security law, enacted in 2024, in addition to the Beijing-imposed law from 2019.

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A government that fears a book fears the truth.

Human Rights Watch Asia director Elaine Pearson criticized the arrests, calling them an "absurdity" of Hong Kong's security regime. Mark Clifford, author of "The Troublemaker," Jimmy Lai's biography, stated that targeting booksellers sends a message that even peaceful ideas are unsafe. He added, "A government that fears a book fears the truth."

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As Beijing tightens control over the city, what is lost is Hong Kong’s openness and diversity of thoughts and opinion.