Poorly written memo sparked controversy in Hong Kong bookseller case
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 13 January, 2016, 12:24pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 13 January, 2016, 1:01pm
English-language book store chain Page One said an internal notice reportedly released by its human resources department requiring politically sensitive publications related to China be pulled from shelves was fake, and police have been called to investigate.
“The ‘memo’ is not true, and we have reported this to the police,” a spokeswoman at Page One’s Hong Kong head office told the Post. “We would not make further comments as the case now is under police probe.”
The statement was made in response to an Apple Daily report on Monday that a memorandum dated January 5 — with what appeared to be the signature of Page One’s general manager — asked “all staff” to stop selling “affected” books on China.
“Due to the news of these days, we are avoid to selling the affected books all about the People’s Republic of China and Chinese Communist Party sensitive from now until further notice {sic],” the notice read.
The newspaper has removed the story from its Hong Kong website.
Books banned on the mainland were often among top-selling items in Page One’s Hong Kong outlets and prominently displayed at airport stores. Mainland tourists would buy and smuggle them home.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1900590/not-true-memo-calling-page-one-staff-pull-books-critical
