Hong Kong security law: Pro-democracy books pulled from libraries - BBC News

Books by pro-democracy figures have been removed from public libraries in Hong Kong in the wake of a controversial new security law.

Beijing has dismissed criticism of the law, saying it is necessary to stop the type of mass pro-democracy protests seen in Hong Kong during much of 2019, which at times exploded into very violent clashes between protesters and police.

It has rejected complaints by the UK and other Western nations that it is in breach of guarantees it made to protect Hong Kong's unique freedoms as interference in its internal affairs.

Hong Kong was promised certain political freedoms for 50 years after the handover.

To many Hong Kong residents, the national security law represents a premature end to those freedoms.

In today's Hong Kong, business owners remove messages of support for the protest movement from their premises, fearful that they could be interpreted as attempts at inciting subversion

The law is wide-ranging, and gives Beijing powers to shape life in Hong Kong that it has never had before

The law makes inciting hatred of China's central government and Hong Kong's regional government offences