TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The National Cultural Association of Taiwan displayed a sign reading “I am a bookstore worker” outside its office on Thursday, echoing a T-shirt worn by a Hong Kong bookseller taken away by police.
The New York Times reported that Hong Kong national security police searched Have a Nice Stay Bookstore and Garden Bookstore in Mong Kok on Wednesday. Officers arrested five owners and employees on suspicion of displaying or selling publications that police described as “seditious intent.”
Images of the arrests quickly spread online. Social media users repeated the T-shirt message to support the detained workers and defend freedom of expression, CNA reported.
Association Secretary-General Lee Hou-ching (李厚慶) said the image of the bookseller wearing the T-shirt made it difficult to remain silent. He also noted that the raids took place as Taiwan marked the 39th anniversary of the end of martial law on Wednesday.
Lee said people in Hong Kong were losing their freedoms. By contrast, people in Taiwan remain free to read, publish, write, and discuss public issues.
He said those freedoms exist because earlier generations struggled through a period when people could not speak openly. He urged the public to value and protect those hard-won rights.
HK01 reported that three owners and employees from Have a Nice Stay Bookstore were released on bail. The status of the other two people arrested was not immediately clear.
The bookstore had announced that it would close on Aug. 30. It was not immediately clear whether the planned closure was related to the police raid.
TVB reported that Hong Kong police said the raids targeted books sent from overseas that allegedly promoted hatred of the government, courts, and law enforcement agencies.
Officers seized “Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China.” The book was written by former National Public Radio correspondent Emily Feng (馮哲芸) and published in Taiwan, Mingpao reported.
