Published 25 days ago • loading... • Updated 24 days ago
Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee, once detained by China, dies in Taipei, report says
He was among five Hong Kong booksellers who vanished in 2015 and later said he was abducted and forced to confess by mainland agents.
Former Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee died in Taipei on Thursday at age 70 after a battle with cancer, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported. He was hospitalized on Tuesday and fell into a coma before passing away.
Chinese authorities detained Lam in 2015 for selling works critical of Beijing's leadership, prompting his 2019 escape to Taiwan where he reopened Causeway Bay Books in 2020. His bookstore had become a symbol of resistance to perceived Chinese encroachments on Hong Kong's liberties.
After his 2016 release, Lam provided an explosive account detailing months of forced detention, describing being blindfolded for a 13-hour train ride and kept under 24-hour surveillance in a room for five months. His health decline led to hospitalization on Tuesday, June 30.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te expressed condolences Thursday, stating Lam's life "bore witness to the value of freedom of expression" and praising his refusal to remain silent against authoritarian repression. Lai said the bookstore became "a place where friends from Hong Kong could gather, speak out and support one another.