Hong Kong Book Fair organisers urge exhibitors to be ‘self-disciplined’ with national security law in place
- Books at seven-day fair will not be vetted or censored but publishers must participate within limits of law, organisers say
- First book fair to be held since Beijing-imposed security legislation came into force last June will run from July 14 to 20
Benjamin Chau Kai-leung, deputy executive director of the Trade Development Council (TDC), said books at the seven-day fair would not be vetted or censored by organisers but exhibitors had to be “self-disciplined” under the national security law.
“After the enactment of the national security law, we will require all publishers to participate within the limits of the law but we will not conduct any screening,” Chau said on Thursday, stressing the book fair, Asia’s largest, had been a “free and transparent” platform over the past three decades.
It will be the first book fair since the Beijing-imposed legislation came into force last June. Critics feared the law, which bans acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, could be used to limit free speech and silence dissent.
Responding to questions at a press briefing, Chau said any complaints about exhibited materials would be submitted to the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) for assessment. Police could be involved if the publisher did not remove the items in question and might be banned from future events, he added.
In the past, the fair’s guidelines only focused on books that might fall foul of obscenity laws.
The TDC said the event would be held at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai from July 14 to 20, involving about 670 exhibitors compared with 686 in 2019.
The official announcement of the event, a hallmark festival of the city’s vibrant freedom of publication, came as tabloid-style newspaper Apple Daily folded after the arrest of five top executives and its lead editorial writer for allegedly violating the national security law.
Asked whether displaying or selling goods related to Apple Daily at the fair would violate the national security law, Chau said action would be taken only if there were complaints from attendees to review any material, which might be handled by authorities.
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“[The organisers] do not vet books and do not have the ability to censor materials, so will continue not to do that. But I believe publishers are aware of the legal environment … and will be self-disciplined,” he said.
Anita Wan Wai-ling, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Publishing Professionals Society, denied the industry was under pressure to self-censor to take part in the fair.
“Publishers have the choice [on what to put] in the exhibit, so I don’t think there’s any issue of self-censorship, they have the right to select what they want to show,” said Wan, who is also managing director and chief editor of Sun Ya Publications which focuses on educational materials.
The event was postponed twice last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. It last attracted nearly 1 million visitors in 2019.
The TDC will offer 35,000 free tickets to vaccinated residents on a first come first served basis, and the giveaway is open to those who have received either one or two doses.
Admission costs HK$25 (US$3) for adults and HK$10 for children of primary school age.
Visitors are encouraged to buy tickets using cashless payments such as stored-value Octopus cards, and all attendees must wear a mask at all times.
