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Hong Kong protesters to target annual book fair and Beijing-owned Sino United Publishing
- Protest leaders’ plan against Sino United Publishing secured more than 2,200 online endorsements in one day
- Run by Beijing’s liaison office, SUP dominates as much as 90 per cent of the city’s retail book business
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Opponents of the now-suspended extradition bill are planning to expand their protests to Hong Kong’s hugely popular annual book fair by targeting booths run by a mainland China state-owned publishing conglomerate.
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The fair opens on Wednesday and the city’s embattled leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has decided to skip it for the first time in three years.
The Chief Executive’s Office did not provide a specific reason for turning down the invitation, according to event organiser the Trade Development Council.
The idea of staging protests at booths run by outlets under Sino United Publishing (SUP) was floated on LIHKG – an online forum that has effectively been a virtual command centre of the anti-bill movement – on Monday morning, securing more than 2,200 endorsements from users in a day.
SUP, which is state-owned and controlled by Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, is the largest publishing group in the city, dominating as much as 90 per cent of the book retail business through its units Joint Publishing, Chung Hwa Book and Commercial Press.
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“When we oppose the bill that could have allowed extradition to mainland China, let’s not forget our publishing industry which was surrendered to the mainland earlier,” the forum post read.
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