Hong Kong Customs confiscated more than 60 Taiwan import books in accordance with the National Security Law

The "Migratory Bird" organization posted on Facebook on Monday (November 2) that a batch of books imported from Taiwan were originally scheduled to be delivered to the "Ruyi" store operated by Migratory Bird in mid-October. However, not only were the arrivals delayed, but two boxes of books were delivered with only half a box of overturned books left, and more than 60 books were "missing."

"Migratory Bird" pointed out that after inquiring with the Hong Kong Customs, it was confirmed that the lost books were seized by the Customs. The customs "receipt for seized items" provided by the transportation company shows that the Hong Kong Customs is based on the implementation details of Article 43 of the "Hong Kong National Security Law". The law was revised in March this year, giving customs the power to seize items "reasonably suspected of having seditious intent" and apply for confiscation.

The customs’ brief written reply to Migratory Bird on October 29 did not explain the reason for seizing the books.

"Migratory Bird" member You Sicong told Ming Pao that he did not understand the connection between the seized books and national security and seditious intentions. He did not disclose the names and authors of the books involved, but pointed out that these books were imported from Taiwan to Hong Kong more than once, and some are still in circulation, so they will continue to be sold based on what they consider to be reasonable and legal standards.

Migratory Bird emphasized in its statement that it has "no intention and no ability to endanger the security of this country" and called on the customs to explain which books are risky and how they endanger national security.

According to Hong Kong media such as "Court Line" and "Hong Kong 01", the Customs responded on the 2nd that it would not comment on individual cases, emphasizing that if Customs finds items with seditious intent, they will seize them in accordance with the law and transfer them to the National Security Division of the Police Force for follow-up.

From March to July this year, Hong Kong independent bookstores "Yi Punch Bookstore", "Hunter Bookstore", "Tian Yuan Bookstore" and "Leave Bookstore" were successively raided by the National Security Bureau for "incitement". Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung stated in July that the Hong Kong government has no intention of setting up a "list of banned books" and likened books that would be considered "incitement" to poisonous food. He said, "When selling food, we must ensure that it is not poison and will not cause stomachaches." He emphasized that booksellers have the responsibility to ensure that the books they sell do not break the law.

During the raids on independent bookstores in July, media sources pointed out that the controversial books included journalist Feng Zheyun’s book “Only Red Flowers Bloom”. Feng Zheyun said in an interview with the BBC and other media at the time that Hong Kong still had some gray area publishing space in the past, but this is obviously no longer the case.

Many people in the bookstore and publishing industry also pointed out at the time that as the Hong Kong government tightened national security controls, it was becoming increasingly difficult to judge the boundaries between speech and publishing.