A Hong Kong bookshop raided by national security police this month yesterday announced that it would close after 50 years in business, while another shut down ahead of schedule. Police searched the two bookshops this month and arrested five people on suspicion of displaying and selling “items with seditious intent,” extending a crackdown on independent bookshops in the city. Greenfield Book Store, a mainstay of the territory’s independent bookshop scene since it opened in 1976, said it would close down when its rental contract ends.
A woman walks past the entrance of Have a Nice Stay in Hong Kong yesterday, where a posting states the bookstore has ceased operations immediately.
“Grateful to everyone for being with us through thick and thin for the past 50 years, thank you, take care,” it wrote on social media, without providing further details. Have A Nice Stay, a bookstore run by former journalists also raided by police, posted a sign outside its shop saying it would close effective immediately.
“As of today, Have a Nice Stay will cease operation temporarily,” the sign said, adding that it would notify customers who had ordered books online of further arrangements. The shop had already said before the raid that it would close next month, citing the social environment, its financial situation and “the elusive red line.” Authorities have cracked down on bookshops over alleged “seditious” material under Hong Kong’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which was passed in March 2024, in addition to broader legislation imposed by Beijing after democracy protests seized the territory in 2019. After this month’s raids, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang (鄧炳強) said that booksellers must ensure the items they sell “do not endanger national security.”
