Hong Kong’s education secretary Kevin Yeung on June 6 reiterated that schools are responsible for ensuring their libraries do not contain books deemed dangerous to national security.
Yeung’s remarks have sparked concerns among Hongkongers fearing another wave of self-censorship at schools.
After the implementation of the National Security Law in mid-2020, Hong Kong’s Education Bureau required schools to routinely examine their library collections and remove books deemed to endanger national security—such as those covering 2019 Hong Kong protests, pro-democracy topics, and the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
Books removed from school libraries must be destroyed—giving them away is not an alternative according to the instructions received by the schools….