Security Law Feature: Reading Between The Lines

Authors, publishers and booksellers in Hong Kong have been trying to figure out exactly how the new national security law affects their business – particularly if they’re involved with politically-sensitive books.

The government’s decision earlier this month to pull a number of books written by democracy and localist activists from the shelves of public libraries had sent a clear message to the industry that it won’t just be business as usual.

Many in the trade had been looking to the annual Hong Kong Book Fair for clues on what the authorities would deem acceptable – and not – under the new legislation against subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces.

But the cancellation of the fair due to the Covid-19 pandemic left them none the wiser as to where the red lines have been drawn.

RTHK’s Joanne Wong spoke to a number of people involved in the publication of political books, to find out how they've been trying to adapt.