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.”
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