"Closing Our Doors Today"... The "Knowledge Haven" That Waves the White Flag [World Report]

People lined up in long queues waiting to enter the entrance of a small bookstore in Hong Kong's Kowloon Peninsula.

It was the final day of operation for "Have a Nice Stay," an independent bookstore founded by former journalists, and citizens gathered to witness the end of the bookstore.

Although it is a small space measuring just around 56 square meters, the regret among citizens is all the greater because it has served as an important communication channel for Hong Kong's civil society, dealing with sensitive political and social issues and books on the Tiananmen Square protests that could not be found in large bookstores.

[Polly Lui / Bookstore Customer : Too many things have disappeared and will probably never return. My heart is heavy with a sense of loss.]

This closure was decisively caused by financial difficulties along with continuous pressure and crackdowns from authorities.

Facing the authorities' so-called "red line," which does not even inform people what is prohibited, the bookstore management waved the white flag, stating that they no longer have the ability or the courage to continue their mission of sharing knowledge.

[Sum Yuen-wa / Co-founder of "Have a Nice Stay" : Thank you to everyone who has supported us. Please stay healthy. "Have a Nice Stay" bookstore is ending its operations today.]

The ordeals of independent bookstores have now become routine in Hong Kong.

Since the beginning of this year, numerous bookstores, including Book Punch, Hunter Bookstore, and Greenfield, have been raided and their affiliates arrested on charges of "selling seditious publications."

[Anson Tse / Bookstore Customer : The recent crackdown by authorities on bookstores is extremely unfair and unreasonable to both bookstore workers and book-loving citizens.]

Once the freest haven of knowledge in the Chinese-speaking world, an era in Hong Kong is thus coming to an end.

(Video Editing: Park Choon-bae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.