Hong Kong National Security Law Devastates Once Thriving Book Industry

Chinese books from Hong Kong on display at the 2024 Taipei International Book Fair. New Tang Dynasty

Hong Kong, the former Asian publishing center and a hub for banned books, has earned the new title of “publishing center ruin” under the National Security Law. Multiple publishers are self-censoring and even shifting to book fairs in Taiwan.

The 2024 Taipei International Book Fair opened on Feb. 20, attracting over 500 publishers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Netherlands (the featured country this year), Germany, France, Thailand, Belgium, and other regions, with a total of 811 forums.

In addition to large publishing groups and university presses, 17 independent publishing houses from Hong Kong participated in the more than 800 forums, accounting for a small portion of the participants.

Hong Kong literary works accounted for four out of twelve winning books in the major awards and the Golden Butterfly Award at this year’s book fair, representing 33 percent of the total books.

Lu Chang-shui, the representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong, said the works “demonstrate the cultural energy of Hong Kong.”

Jimmy Pang Chi-ming, publisher of Subculture, once said that even if books could be taken to Taiwan for publishing and then brought back to Hong Kong for sale, it would change the original beautiful living conditions of Hong Kong, which is “a very sad phenomenon.”

Former Chinese-Language Publishing Center

Hung Tak Wai, editor-in-chief of 1841 Publishing, participated in the book fair and said that since World War II, Hong Kong has always been the most important place for publishing books in the Chinese-speaking community. In wartime China and Taiwan during the white terror era, people used to actively look for Hong Kong publications.

“At that time, many people would go to Hong Kong to buy what they considered ‘banned books.’ In my understanding, Hong Kong was one of the most important Chinese publishing centers at the time,” he told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times.

The banned book industry thrived in Hong Kong for 30 years. Bao Pu, the son of Bao Tong, the secretary to former CCP leader Zhao Ziyang, said that in the 1980s, political publications in Hong Kong had an impact on Beijing’s political situation.

In 1985, Hong Kong media professional Lu Keng interviewed former CCP leader Hu Yaobang. What Hu said in the interview was considered as “causing the government to collapse” and even led to his downfall.

Mr. Bao Pu also revealed that a group of senior political leaders in Zhongnanhai exchanged Hong Kong books as gifts at the time, and before the June 4 Massacre, senior CCP officials also used Hong Kong media to leak certain information.

After the June 4 Massacre, people in Hong Kong and Taiwan paid more attention to the situation in mainland China, with political articles and leaked information not only circulating in intellectual circles but also becoming bestsellers on the market.

Publishing Industry Dims Under National Security Law

Since the 1990s, the Hong Kong Book Fair has been held in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center every July for 33 sessions. As one of the largest book fairs in Asia, it has played a significant role as a cultural event in the region.

The first book fair, in 1990, attracted 149 exhibitors and 200,000 attendees. Since then, the number of exhibitors and attendees has rapidly increased yearly. By 2015, the number of attendees had reached one million.

A riot police officer (C) stands guard during a clearance operation during a demonstration in a mall in Hong Kong on July 6, 2020.

However, the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law in 2020 ended the city’s publishing industry’s good times. After 2021, the number of Hong Kong Book Fair attendees decreased year by year.

Independent publishing house Greenfield Bookstore was known for publishing and selling politically sensitive books. Before the National Security Law, the bookstore was often crowded with mainland Chinese, specifically those coming to Hong Kong for banned books. Every year at the Hong Kong Book Fair, Greenfield Bookstore’s booth occupied the most prominent position, with its large sign attracting Chinese readers from all over the world.

Unfortunately, after the National Security Law was passed, Greenfield Bookstore disappeared from public view for a while. When it reopened, politically sensitive books disappeared from the shelves, turning disappointed Chinese readers to other independent bookstores.

Mr. Hung said that after the National Security Law took effect, the biggest problem was that people didn’t understand the authorities’ regulations.

“What can be done and what cannot be done is not very clear. The red lines are not clear, so everyone has to guess for themselves,” he said, adding that this would lead to serious consequences of “self-censorship.”

“Because many books may not necessarily violate the National Security Law or other things, but would authors or publishers worry and fear more? This is hard to avoid.”

HK Publishing Industry Controlled by CCP

Sino United Publishing, which owns three major bookstores in Hong Kong—Joint Publishing, Chung Hwa Book Company, and the Commercial Press—monopolizes the Hong Kong book distribution market.

Sino United Publishing was actually controlled by the Liaison Office of the CCP’s authority in Hong Kong through a company registered in Guangdong Province. Li Zuze, the first chairman of Sino United Publishing, even admitted that the group was state-owned and managed by the Liaison Office in a 2018 Hong Kong Connection episode.

Lam Wing-kee, one of five shareholders and staff at the Causeway Bay Book shop in Hong Kong, waves to the press at his new book shop on the opening day in Taipei, Taiwan, on April 25, 2020. Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo

The Guangdong New Culture Enterprise Development Co., Ltd., established by the Liaison Office, distributes Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao, two CCP-controlled Hong Kong newspapers. It also controls Sino United Publishing through the New Culture Enterprise (Hong Kong) Development Co., Ltd.

Sino United Publishing wholly owned 52 bookstores of the three major bookstores, accounting for more than half of the total in Hong Kong at the time. The Group also owned the largest distributor, printing house, and nearly 30 publishing houses in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Educational Publishing Company, which mainly publishes textbooks, accounting for 80 percent of the market.

Clampdown on Independent Booksellers

Shi Shan, senior editor of the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times, said that before the National Security Law, although the Liaison Office controlled most of the Hong Kong publishing houses, “at least there was still some space left for independent publishing houses, but now it’s almost completely wiped out... Hong Kong has officially become a publishing center ruin.”

Tang Siu Wa, editor-in-chief of Taiwan’s 2046 Publishing House, said that after 2020, concerns about the Hong Kong publishing industry increased, and vague red lines abound.

In addition to official publication censorship and self-censorship by authors and publishers, there was also “market censorship” by bookstores and readers who dared not buy or sell books on sensitive topics to avoid trouble, she said.

After the National Security Law came into effect, independent bookstores were inspected and intimidated by the authorities.

Independent Chinese bookstores such as Prejudice Books, Mount Zero Books, and the Hunter Bookstore, founded by former district councilor Leticia Wong, have been successively inspected by the authorities, and some have been forced to close.