In a quiet Hong Kong cul-de-sac, hundreds gathered over the weekend to say goodbye to an independent bookstore after weekly government inspections spurred by anonymous complaints forced it to put up the shutters.
Mount Zero said it would close at the end of last month after constant complaints to authorities, who had accused it of illegally occupying government land by tiling a pavement in front of the store, with the threat of fines and jail time.
Since Hong Kong imposed a national security law in 2020 the territory’s cultural sector has been hit by censorship fears, and the handful of bookstores that remain say they are operating in an environment of increasing pressure.
Photo: AFP
“Authorities often say Hong Kong will go back to normal ... [but] these things will haunt our lives,” said political scientist Ivan Choy, who attended the gathering.
Hong Kong recently enacted a second national security law, which critics fear will further drive pro-democracy sentiments underground and chill cultural and artistic freedoms.
The territory’s government has rejected allegations the laws curtail freedom of expression.
However, Mount Zero has lived through dramatic political change since its founding six years ago and book lovers mourned that the liberal-minded bookstore had seemingly become a victim of that shift.
Leo, a 20-year-old student who declined to give his last name, said he worried “the categories of books allowed for sale would be restricted,” hurting other independent bookstores.
Mount Zero often hosted cultural events such as book talks in its outdoor area and gained a devoted following. Margaret Ng, a barrister and former pro-democracy politician, said the two-story bookstore had offered like-minded readers a vital place to gather.
“You can see in Mount Zero the aspirations of the young people to express themselves in literature and to form their own community,” she said.
Several independent bookstores in December last year reported spikes in government inspections, some prompted by anonymous complaints including fire safety and labor regulations.
Announcing its closure last year, Mount Zero said it hoped “the mysterious complainant can take a break” after it received weekly visits from different government departments.
“The time saved can be used to sit down and read a book properly,” it said.
Agence France-Presse could not independently verify the nature of the complaints.
Below a mosaic sign that read “Ideas are bulletproof,” sweet green pea soup and barbecue pork were passed around in the bookshop’s final hours.
As night fell, the store’s lights dimmed and readers lamenting its loss said the impact on the local community would not be forgotten.
“What really counts in the case of Mount Zero is not a particular bookshop,” Ng said. “It’s the spirit, and that spirit is unvanquished.”
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS