Hong Kong book lovers mourn bookshop closure after constant complaints

On a normally quiet street in Hong Kong, hundreds paid tribute to the independent bookstore Mount Zero on March 31, bidding farewell to a liberal-minded community as political tides turned. Photo: AFP

In a quiet Hong Kong cul-de-sac, hundreds gathered over the weekend to say goodbye to an independent bookstore after weekly government inspections spurred by anonymous complaints forced it to put up the shutters.

Mount Zero said it would close at the end of March after constant complaints to authorities, which had accused it of illegally occupying government land by tiling a pavement in front of the store, with the threat of fines and jail time.