Books about June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown grow scarce in Hong Kong

Books about the Tiananmen Square crackdown have become increasingly scarce in Hong Kong’s independent bookstores, with sellers citing widespread self-censorship fuelled by legal uncertainties surrounding the sale of politically sensitive titles under the national security laws.

The disappearance of the books and the loss of the annual June 4 candlelight vigil in Victoria Park, combined with the city’s changed political environment, had contributed to turning commemoration into a private experience, rather than a publicly shared one, observers said.

Ultimately, this shift would alter how memories about the event were passed down by generations, one professor of communications said.

As Wednesday’s 36th anniversary of the crackdown approaches, the Post reviewed the archives of public libraries and university libraries and surveyed bookshops to assess the availability of books in Chinese or English on the topic.

Public libraries used to house 149 titles, totalling 1,162 copies about the event, according to a list released by the Home Affairs Bureau in 2009 in response to a lawmaker’s request.

None of the titles are available on the public library’s online catalogue, according to a recent search. In a reply to the Post, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department said public libraries reviewed and withdrew materials to ensure “their compliance with the laws of Hong Kong”.