// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
These bookshops let Chinese readers question their country - now the doors are closing
The owner of Hunter bookstore, pictured here, was arrested in late June
When Chen Zhu heads to Hong Kong from mainland China every month, there's one place she always goes: Hunter Bookstore.
Founded four years ago by a former councillor, the independent bookshop has earned a reputation for stocking what authorities would consider sensitive books - accounts of Hong Kong's pro-democracy campaigners to famous allegories on authoritarianism, such as George Orwell's Animal Farm or Hajime Isayama's Manga series Attack on Titan.
It's a short journey from Zhu's home in Guangzhou on China's southern coast to the crowded street in Hong Kong's Sham Shui Po district, where Hunter is sandwiched between fabric sellers, garages and trendy cafes.
But, for the 23-year-old, it is also a passage into a different, freer world - where she can find answers to forbidden questions.
When she learned the bookshop had been raided by police in late June, Zhu broke into tears: "I was devastated."
Hong Kong saw a boom in independent bookshops after huge pro-democracy protests rocked the city in 2019. But it has been increasingly difficult for them to survive as China's control over the city has grown.
While Beijing defends its far-reaching National Security Law (NSL) as essential for stability, many Hong Kongers and rights groups argue it has crushed free speech. Thousands of locals, including activists and former lawmakers, have left in recent years, as tough new security laws have led to a slew of arrests and convictions.
Books about the Tiananmen Square democracy movement and billionaire businessman and newspaper founder Jimmy Lai
When police searched Hunter Bookstore on 24 June, they accused owner Letitia Wong, 33, and a 32-year-old man, of violating those laws and arrested them for sedition and money laundering. They deny the charges and have since been released on bail.