Gov’t refusal to release banned book list following independent bookstore arrests is ‘abuse of power,’ Christian NGO says

The Hong Kong government’s refusal to release a list of banned books amounts to an “abuse of power” and undermines the rule of law, a conservative Christian NGO has said after authorities raided independent bookstores and arrested their staff last month.

The Society for Truth and Light’s secretary general Choi Chi-sum said in a Friday statement that the bottom line of Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” constitutional framework “is the freedom of speech.”

“Citizens should not have to live in fear simply for expressing personal opinions or possessing publications that haven’t been ruled illegal by the courts,” he wrote in Chinese.

The statement came two weeks after staff at two independent bookshops, Have a Nice Stay and Greenfield Bookstore, were arrested by national security police.

They 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.

Founded in 1997, The Society for Truth and Light is a conservative Christian group said to promote conversion therapy practices.

With most of the city’s outspoken civil society groups having disbanded in the wake of the Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020, the Christian group’s statement is a rare public rebuke of the government’s crackdown on independent bookstores.

While authorities say police discovered books at the stores that contained content that colud provoke hatred against the government, no official list of banned books has been made public. Secretary for Security Chris Tang has said authorities would not release such a list.

Choi said not publishing such a list is an “abuse of power and an act that undermines the spirit of the rule of law.”

Businesses should have legal frameworks to rely on, he added, “rather than having the legality of actions and speech decided solely by the subjective views of individual officials or law enforcement officers.”

Both Greenfield and Have a Nice Stay have announced their closures. The former said last week that it would close when their lease ends, but did not publicise a date. Have a Nice Stay announced its closure in mid-July, a day before the raids and arrests.

At a Friday press conference, security minister Chris Tang said that Hong Kong’s national security legislation does not target specific establishments.

“Whether you are an individual, a company, or whatever type of company you are, if you break the law, I will arrest you… and prosecute you if there is sufficient evidence,” he said.

Tang said earlier that the onus was on booksellers to ensure that the titles they sell do not threaten national security.