These bookshops let Chinese readers question their country - now the doors are closing
Hong Kong's Hunter Bookstore is closing following a police raid and the arrest of its owners on charges of sedition and money laundering. The shop was known for stocking sensitive political literature, reflecting the shrinking space for free speech under China's National Security Law.
Why it matters
The closure highlights the ongoing erosion of civil liberties and independent media in Hong Kong under increased mainland Chinese control.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images Image caption, The owner of Hunter bookstore, pictured here, was arrested in late June
When Chen Zhu heads to Hong Kong from mainland China every month, there's one place she always goes: Hunter Bookstore.
Founded four years ago by a former councillor, the independent bookshop has earned a reputation for stocking what authorities would consider sensitive books - accounts of Hong Kong's pro-democracy campaigners to famous allegories on authoritarianism, such as George Orwell's Animal Farm or Hajime Isayama's Manga series Attack on Titan.
It's a short journey from Zhu's home in Guangzhou on China's southern coast to the crowded street in Hong Kong's Sham Shui Po district, where Hunter is sandwiched between fabric sellers, garages and trendy cafes.
But, for the 23-year-old, it is also a passage into a different, freer world - where she can find answers to forbidden questions.
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