Eslite Bookstore (誠品) in Hong Kong is said to have pulled Tibet-related books off its shelves out of political concerns, an allegation that has touched raw nerves in the territory, which has been venting its fury at Beijing.
Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that Taiwan’s Eslite issued an in-company document prohibiting its workers to make comments about the company on social media without approval.
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily reported on June 19 that Hong Kong book lovers could no longer find books about Tibetan human rights issues in Eslite’s first overseas outlet, in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay area.
Photo: CNA
The report said the company has bowed to pressure from Beijing, pulling the works of Wang Lixiong (王力雄) — a Chinese author and Tibetologist who writes about ethnic policy and has drawn attention from Chinese authorities.
The self-censorship is said to be related to the bookstore’s plan to open new outlets in Shanghai and Soochow, China.
The report cited a source as saying that the outlet had just had an in-store book fair on Tibet in March, showcasing Tibet-related works, including Wang’s and those of Tsering Woeser, a well-known Tibetan writer and dissident. However, their books were removed from the exhibition and later from shelves altogether after an executive’s inspection.
The outlet’s workers jointly signed a letter to Eslite founder Robert Wu (吳清友), the report said, protesting what they considered the gagging of the freedom of speech and denouncing the company’s sacrificing of democratic values for access to China’s market.
They also said that if Hong Kong Eslite could not safeguard those values, “today’s Hong Kong would be tomorrow’s Taiwan.”
Last year, Taiwan’s Eslite chain came under fire when it allegedly refused to carry a book about Beijing’s persecution of Tibetan monks, Death of a Buddha — The Truth behind the Death of the 10th Panchen Lama (殺佛–十世班禪大師蒙難真相), by exiled Chinese writer Yuan Hongbing (袁紅冰) and Tibetan author Namloyak Dhungser.
Meanwhile, Eslite is requiring its Taiwanese employees to stay tight-lipped about the company’s operations, according to a Facebook post by National Chengchi University professor Hsu Shih-jung (徐世榮).
Hsu cited an alleged company document dated Wednesday last week that he said was given to him by an Eslite employee. Hsu said the memo prohibits employees “from disclosing any information about Eslite on the Internet or to the media without its permission.”
According to Hsu’s source, the bookstore recently included the confidentiality clause in its employment contract, which it asks new hires to sign prior to assigning them a post.
“The Hong Kong Apple Daily report was confirmed by the Taiwanese worker, who gave me the copy,” Hsu said. “[The whistle-blower] said employees at the Hong Kong outlet are brave enough to voice their objections, while Taiwanese workers, despite also feeling outraged, are too worried about losing their jobs to protest.”
When reached for response, Taiwan Eslite said that every company has its own management policies, adding that “it might be that the timing of this has raised some doubt, but [the issuance of it] is simply a standard procedure.”
On the authenticity of the Hong Kong report, the company denied it had undertaken any special measures against certain books.
Minister of Culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) yesterday said that she had yet to put the incident into context, but added that she understood Eslite’s position, as it plans to expand its business across the Taiwan Strait. She urged the public to respect Eslite’s decision to pursue its business goals.
However, Grimm Culture Publishing Co (格林文化) editor-in-chief Hao Kuang-tsai (郝廣才) said that Eslite should be subject to a higher level of public scrutiny.
Additional reporting by Hsieh Wen-hua
‘WEAK POSITIVE’: The man arrived in Taiwan in May and was quarantined for two weeks, Chen Shih-chung said, adding that he might be infected a long time ago The government is considering tightening mask-wearing rules again in light of a potential domestic COVID-19 infection, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) confirmed seven new COVID-19 cases, six of which are imported. The other case involves a Belgian engineer who entered Taiwan on May 3 and remained in quarantine until May 17, said Chen, who heads the CECC. Although the source of infection has yet to be identified, the case could end the nation’s record of not having any domestic cases in the previous 110 days. The Belgian, in his 20s, is a technician
BRIBERY CASE: President Tsai Ing-wen accepted Su Jia-chyuan’s resignation as he said that he deeply regretted causing trouble for the president due to the investigation Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) yesterday resigned after his nephew, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清), was implicated in a bribery case related to a dispute over the ownership of Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨). “I resigned from the post so that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would not be bothered by it anymore, and the prosecutors can investigate the case in a fair and just manner. I thank President Tsai once again for supporting me. May the country continue to prosper under her leadership,” Su Jia-chyuan said in a statement. The Presidential Office said that Tsai has accepted
‘INCREASINGLY FAVORED’: Taiwan’s ‘transparent laws and efficient courts’ as well as its financial institutions give it a major advantage to become a financial hub, Tsai said Taiwan would liberalize banking and investment rules to establish itself as a regional financial hub, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Taiwan Capital Market Forum in Taipei yesterday. Recent world events could be an opening for Taiwan to become an international center for business investments and financial management, Tsai said at the forum, which was organized by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister publication of the Taipei Times). “We’re facing unknowns in the world right now, including the continuing impact of US-China trade tensions and the reorganization of the global supply chain after COVID-19,” Tsai said. “These bring new challenges and opportunities.” Tsai
ALEX AZAR: The first visit by a head of the Department of Health and Human Services would strictly observe the CECC’s special regulations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar is to lead a delegation to Taiwan — the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official since the two sides cut formal relations in 1979. The plan was announced yesterday morning by the US Department of Health and Human Services and confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Beijing has expressed its concerns to Washington, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said later yesterday. Taiwan and the US only issued statements saying that the visit would happen “in the coming days.” MOFA said that due to security concerns, it would
RSS