Booksellers must ensure titles don’t violate national security laws: Chris Tang

Hong Kong’s security chief has warned that booksellers are responsible for ensuring their titles do not violate national security legislation, a day after police raided two independent stores and arrested five people on suspicion of sedition.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung also reiterated on Thursday that the government would not compile a list of “banned books”, arguing that doing so would allow offenders to bypass the law by simply changing a title.

Tang’s comments came after police searched Have a Nice Stay bookshop in Prince Edward and Greenfield Book Store in Mong Kok on Wednesday.

Officers seized books and arrested five people for allegedly displaying and selling seditious publications.

The arrests followed a referral from the Customs and Excise Department, which had intercepted an overseas shipment of books deemed seditious, according to police.

“If you are a bookseller, you have a responsibility to ensure that the books you sell do not endanger national security,” Tang said.