National security police arrest 2 people at Hong Kong bookshop

Hong Kong national security police have arrested the owner and another person at an independent bookshop for alleged sedition and money laundering.

Officers searched Hunter Bookstore in Sham Shui Po on Wednesday and arrested the owner, former district councillor Leticia Wong Man‑huen, and a local man.

They were detained on suspicion of committing acts with seditious intent, a police source said.

Wong, formerly of the now‑disbanded Civic Party, also allegedly laundered money in breach of the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance. She is accused of receiving multiple suspicious payments from foreign political bodies.

Officers seized a batch of items, books and documents said to carry seditious intent.

Police alleged the two suspects sold and displayed publications with inflammatory content and organised talks and sharing sessions targeting young people and students, inciting hatred against the government, judiciary and law enforcement agencies.

Last July, the shop hosted a book fair, bringing together local independent publishers and bookstores. Pro‑Beijing media later criticised the event for featuring anti‑government books and inviting opposition figures such as Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee and cartoonist Zunzi to attend.

The shop also sold titles such as a biography of jailed former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee‑ying and works by Zunzi.

Two years ago, before June 4, the store drew attention by selling candles for HK$6.40 (US$0.80) and displaying signs reading “35/5”, widely seen as references to the 35th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Police officers stood outside for about an hour checking shoppers’ identity cards.