Can Jimmy Lai's Books be "Librarian's Choice"?

Can people borrow Jimmy Lai's books?

Now that the pro-democracy opposition has been ousted from the Legislative Council, pro-Beijing lawmakers are looking for ways to prove their patriotism. And they are going into overdrive.

One overzealous member of the pro-Beijing party, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong snapped a picture at the Shek Tong Tsui Public Library in Western district, showing a display of books by jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying labelled as "the librarian's choice".

DAB's Yeung posted the photos on Facebook

Yeung Hok-ming posted pictures of at least 10 of the books on his Facebook page on Thursday, which prompted an immediate investigation by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. It said a "rigorous and thoroughly investigation" was being conducted, and added public libraries must ensure its collections complied with the national security law.

Lai's Chinese-language books are not focused on politics, but his thoughts on business management or his life. Nevertheless by Thursday evening the books had been replaced with those about culture and traditions.

Perhaps they were the librarian's second choice...

While the LCSD declined to say whether the books by Lai should be removed from libraries, others by pro-democracy activists, like Joshua Wong Chi-fung, Horace Chin Wan-kan, former Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan, and former Civic Party member Tanya Chan Suk-chong are not available for lending.

It seems Yeung has forced the issue of Lai's books, leaving the civil service scrambling to figure out what to do.

The library in question is in Shek Tong Tsui

Where are the red lines on these books that aren't political but are by someone currently in jail? And who is going to call the shots? More importantly who is going to take the fall for this incident?

The national security law has led to everyone second-guessing themselves and wondering if they are crossing the red line or not. This is going to make it harder for people to express themselves in public, particularly artists, writers, filmmakers and playwrights.

The paranoia is already well underway...

Book Censorship Begins

Libraries are reviewing books that may be against the new law

Everyday there is a new aspect of the national security law that causes more alarm bells to ring. Now it's library books.

One of Wong's books under review

Nine books written by a localist and pro-democracy activists are "under review" in Hong Kong's public libraries because they may not be compliant with the new law.

The Chinese-language books were written by Joshua Wong Chi-fung, localist Horace Chin Wan-kan, and Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan. When looking up the books on the library website, all nine titles are marked as "under review".

A staff member of the City Hall Library told a reporter posing as a library user that: "A new law has come into effect... so the Hong Kong authorities are reviewing these books to see if they stick to the new law or not, and under this situation the books cannot be checked out for readers now," the employee said. "After our review, then we will update the situation of the books to see if you can borrow them or not."

Chin is known as a localist, who argues Hong Kong must forge its own unique identity to counter the growing influence of the mainland.

Localist Horace Chin

Speaking to the media today, Wong says reviewing two of his books amounts to censorship.

"My books were published years before Hong Kong's anti-extradition movement, and yet they are now prone to book censorship under the new law, one step away from the actual book banning," he said.

Chan, who is a lawyer, was puzzled why her book, My Journeys for Food and Justice, that was published in 2014, was under review, as the government had said the law would not be retroactive.

She asked the Leisure and Cultural Services Department to clarify its policy on making such decisions.

"It [the law] does not just affect a small number of people," Chan said. "It affects the public as the way they can access these books is being taken away."

Philip Dykes of the Hong Kong Bar Association finds this latest move "alarming" in preventing the public's right to information compared to before July 1.

Chan asks why her book is being reviewed

"It clearly constitutes a restriction on the right to seek information," he said. "Because if it a restriction, the censor needs to explain why the books were removed."

However, Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a member of the Executive Council cabinet and a former chairman of the Bar Association, said the books under review did not infringe people's rights, as they could find the books elsewhere.

"As a government establishment, it would be wrong and contrary to the purpose of the law to encourage people to read publications, which might incite people to commit an offence under the law, so I don't think removing these books from a public library is wrong," Tong said.

Tong says the books can be found elsewhere

Here we go again -- do these books really incite people to commit secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion? And also they were written and published before July 1, 2020. The library serves an important function in giving everyone access to to books they may need or cannot afford to buy.

This is only the beginning of more censorship that will affect everyone's daily lives. So perhaps China's repeated mantra that the new law only affects a small number of people is the entire Hong Kong, as a city with 7 million people for China is a small metropolis...