As China cracks down on bookstores at home, Chinese-language booksellers are flourishing overseas

WASHINGTON (AP) — Independent bookstores have become a new battleground in China. They’re getting swept up in the ruling Communist Party’s crackdown on dissent and free expression. The Associated Press found that at least a dozen bookstores in the world’s second largest economy have been shuttered or targeted for closure in the last few months alone. One bookstore owner was arrested over four months ago. The crackdown has had a chilling effect on China’s publishing industry. Some booksellers are closing up shops or relocating. Yu Miao is the owner of a bookstore that recently relocated from Shanghai to Washington. He says he wanted “to live without fear.”