Bookstore Arrests Spark Free Speech Concerns in Hong Kong

0:00It's March 25th. This is Sydney News Today, your AI-powered local news. Hong Kong police arrested a bookstore owner and three employees for selling what they call seditious publications, including a biography of jailed, media figure Jimmy Lai. The book titled The Troublemaker and written by one of Lai's former business associates focuses on his life as a pro-democracy advocate. Lai founded the now-closed Abel Daily newspaper and is serving a 20-year sentence in the city's largest national security case for collusion with, foreign forces and sedition. Mark Clifford, the author now living in New York, called the arrests a troubling sign for free expression. Human Rights Watch has warned that Hong Kong feels more oppressive, with ordinary people losing ways to challenge officials on corruption or abuses. After the local article 23 law, sedition carries up to seven years in jail or ten if tied to outside forces. This stems from broader national security rules, Beijing added in 2020 after pro-democracy

1:03protests. Meanwhile, officials just updated enforcement rules, letting customs see suspect items and police demand phone or computer passwords from those. Under suspicion, signaling an ongoing push to curb dissent.