Exiled Hong Kong Bookseller Lam Wing-kee Dies in Taipei
Lam Wing-kee, the owner of Causeway Bay Books, has died of lung cancer in Taipei at the age of 70. Lam's bookstore in Hong Kong sold publications critical of the Chinese Communist Party that were banned in China. Lam and four associates went missing in 2015. It was later revealed they'd been detained by Chinese authorities. Lam eventually resurfaced in Hong Kong and later relocated to Taiwan, where he reopened his bookstore, which became a rallying point for other Hong Kongers in exile. He died of lung cancer.
In Taipei, the sign on this bookstore that came to symbolize freedom and resistance in Hong Kong reads "closed today."
But Causeway Bay Books has been temporarily closed for nearly a month, as its owner, Lam Wing-kee, battled lung cancer. He died on the evening of July 2nd at a hospital in Taipei at the age of 70.
One Hong Konger living in Taiwan placed flowers, a can of beer, a paper crane and a book—which he bought from Lam years ago—at the storefront.
HONG KONGER IN TAIWAN (Taipei)
I hope in his next life he can be born in a free country. For me, his life has been spent under oppression for almost ten years. He faced a lot of pressure, had no freedom, and was a victim of political violence and trauma. It was very tragic for him.
Lam's Causeway Bay bookstore in Hong Kong sold political books banned in China... in 2015, he and four employees were secretly detained by Chinese authorities... something seen at the time as a mark of Beijing's increasing grip on the city.
When Lam reappeared in Hong Kong, he told the press he had been taken against his will, interrogated and forced to record a televised confession.
Though some of his associates remain in detention. In 2019, Lam came to Taiwan and reopened his bookstore in Taipei, where it became a gathering place for Hong Kongers in exile.
LAM WING-KEE, OWNER, CAUSEWAY BAY BOOKS (Taipei, April 2020)
Taiwan is the last stronghold for Hong Kongers. Staying in Hong Kong means enduring suppression. Hong Kongers still have a way out.
Since the massive pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019, and the imposition of Beijing's National Security Law a year later, tens of thousands of Hong Kongers have fled to Taiwan, the UK and other countries to escape China's control.
Lam's bookstore in Taipei was a symbol that the fight for a free Hong Kong would still go on.
LAM WING-KEE, OWNER, CAUSEWAY BAY BOOKS (Taipei, April 29, 2019)
My heart is in pain but what can I do? There's no way I can remain in Hong Kong. All I can do is leave Hong Kong and then use my methods to attack [China], to undertake resistance. I want to struggle against them through my bookshop.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te mourned Lam's death in a social media post, saying "the courage he left behind will not disappear."
Indeed, Lam's story will live on... in the memories of his friends and fans in Hong Kong, Taiwan... and the books he shared with them.
