Overview
- National security police arrested Book Punch owner Pong Yat-ming and three staff on Tuesday, searched the Sham Shui Po shop, and seized Mark Clifford’s Jimmy Lai biography The Troublemaker.
- Police did not confirm details of the operation and said only that actions would follow the law, while local outlets including TVB and the South China Morning Post reported the arrests.
- Officials on Tuesday removed three Apple Daily‑linked companies from the companies registry and labeled them prohibited organizations under a 2024 security law.
- The government on Monday broadened enforcement tools by letting customs seize items they deem seditious and allowing police with court warrants to demand phone or computer passwords.
- Rights groups said the bookstore case deepens a chill on expression, and the episode recalls the 2015 Causeway Bay booksellers disappearances that unsettled Hong Kong’s independent shops.