Hong Kong pro-democracy shops fear China's new security law | Malay Mail

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HONG KONG, June 26 — Daniel Lee says a surge of new customers came to his Hong Kong Reader Bookstore after pro-democracy demonstrations erupted in the Chinese-ruled territory last summer, looking for books on political protest. Now he fears he will have to take some bestsellers — such as...

Customers sit inside a yellow restaurant called 'Mainichi,' during 'golden week' holiday by supporting local businesses with the pro-democracy views, in Hong Kong May 1, 2020. — Reuters pic

“If one day they identify uncensored books as attempts to subvert state power, we would have little chance of continuing our business,” Lee told Reuters in the shop he opened 13 years ago. Lee believes his small business and more than 4,500 others identified on activist sites as “yellow” — meaning they support the pro-democracy movement and vice-versa — will be targeted.“They can interpret the law themselves, they can arrest whoever they want, and we are afraid that we will be arrested too,” said Dave Lee, one of the founders of HK Protect, which sells helmets, respirators and other gear for street protesters. “If things really go that far, we will either close down or leave.

There are signs that yellow businesses are a concern for China. The Hong Kong Liaison Office, Beijing’s top representative office in the city, said in May that such businesses violated free market principles and were “kidnapping” the economy for political ends. The Liaison Office did not reply to a request for comment on this story.

Ivan Ng, whose Onestep Printing shop sells protest-themed paintings, posters and flags, said he will wait to see how strictly the law is implemented. Other yellow businesses such as the Fong Waa Parlour restaurant, Hair Guys Salon and egg waffle shop Ice Puff told Reuters they may take down protest-related decorations because of the new law.

 

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