Hong Kong leader warns city should not 'recommend books with unhealthy ideas'

Following the removal of library books relating to the tragic Tiananmen Square crackdown and other political concerns, Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, warned on Thursday that the city must not “recommend books with unhealthy ideas.” Since Beijing placed a national security law on the area in 2020, suppressing dissent following big, and at times deadly, pro-democracy rallies the year before, the financial hub has seen major legal and political changes. The latest action follows the suspension indefinitely of a popular political cartoonist, whose work frequently satirised Hong Kong’s connection with mainland China, and the removal of his books from the city’s libraries during the previous week. The flash removal prompted Hong Kong journalists to comb the public library department’s database for books on other politically sensitive issues – including the 1989 Tiananmen Square bloody crackdown against peaceful protesters – discovering dozens of titles were missing. Lee defended the apparent removal of politically sensitive materials, saying the books found in Hong Kong’s public libraries “are those we recommend for the residents”. “We must not recommend any books that are unlawful, that violate copyrights, that contain unhealthy ideas,” he said. “The government is obliged not to recommend books with unhealthy ideas.” The former security chief did not specify how the government defined “unhealthy ideas”, nor when the books were removed, but added that residents could still find the literature “in your own way and read them”. Since the enactment of the national security law, Hong Kong has seen its autonomy eroded, despite Beijing’s promise to uphold it after Britain’s handover in 1997. Room for expression of overt political differences has shrunk, with the territory’s courts, legal procedures and cultural spheres irrevocably altered. An annual vigil commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown had drawn thousands to Hong Kong’s Victoria Park every year in a vivid illustration of the city’s former political freedoms. But it was banned in 2020, and the vigil’s organisers have been charged with “incitement to subversion” under the security law. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.