Premier honors late Causeway Bay Books owner Lam Wing-kei

Taipei, July 31 (CNA) Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday praised Lam Wing-kei (林榮基), the late proprietor of Hong Kong's Causeway Bay Books, for standing up to authoritarianism in his lifelong pursuit of freedom and democracy.

Speaking before a memorial service at Chè-lâm Presbyterian Church in Taipei, Cho described Lam, who relocated to Taiwan in 2019 amid intensifying unrest in Hong Kong and a widening government crackdown, as a democracy advocate admired by many.

"Mr. Lam's passing is a tremendous loss and a source of deep grief for all those in Taiwan and Hong Kong who cherish democracy and freedom," Cho said.

"Today, we gather to pay our highest tribute to the extraordinary courage he displayed throughout his lifelong struggle against authoritarian tyranny," he said.

In 2015, Lam was abducted and later detained in mainland China, along with four others linked to the original Causeway Bay Books, which was known for selling political books banned by the Chinese Communist Party.

He was released on bail in 2016 and instructed to return to the bookstore to retrieve customer data. Instead, he fled and held a press conference, where he detailed the incident that later became known as the Causeway Bay Books "disappearances."

Cho said Lam's remarks at the press conference continue to resonate: "Though I have seen readers kneel, I have never seen a desk kneel."

As people mourn Lam's passing, Cho noted the Hong Kong government's raids on independent bookstores and arrests of booksellers earlier this month.

Hong Kong authorities on July 15 searched Greenfield Book Store and Have a Nice Stay, both in Mong Kok, and arrested five people on suspicion of importing seditious literature. According to local media, one of the imported titles was the Chinese-language edition of "Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping's China," published by a Taiwanese publisher.

"This latest crackdown once again demonstrates, in the starkest terms, how the authoritarian system is steadily destroying Hong Kong and pushing it toward an era in which books themselves are banned," Cho said.

"Such actions are not only destroying Hong Kong; they are also undermining the universal values of democracy and freedom."

At the event, Cho also presented a citation on behalf of President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), which was accepted by Lam's son, in recognition of Lam's contributions to publishing, human rights advocacy and cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Hong Kong.

In 2020, the now-exiled Lam reopened Causeway Bay Books in Taipei's Zhongshan District before moving it to Zhongzheng District in 2024.

Then-President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and then-Vice President Lai both visited the bookstore in 2020.

Lam's funeral is scheduled for Friday afternoon. He will be laid to rest at Peace Garden Cemetery in New Taipei's Jinshan District, according to the church.