Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kei (林榮基), who has said he was kidnapped in 2015 by Chinese public security, arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday for a book fair, but was allegedly told not to visit the venue until the opening ceremony, where Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) was expected, was over.
Between October and December 2015, five employees or co-owners of Causeway Bay Books (銅鑼灣圖書), including Lam, went missing in Hong Kong. Lam reappeared in July last year and publicly accused Beijing agents of kidnapping him in Shenzhen, China, to intimidate the bookstore which sells books banned on the mainland.
Lam arrived on Tuesday at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport under heavy police protection for a week-long visit.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
He told reporters he came at the invitation of Tonsan Publishing Co (唐山出版社) and the Independent Chinese PEN Center.
However, sources alleged that the Taiwanese government had cut short his intended visit, first from 30 days to 15 days, and then to one week.
Moreover, an unnamed security agent had “kindly” asked Lam not to attend the Taipei International Book Exhibition’s opening ceremony yesterday, for security reasons, because the vice president and Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) were expected, Chinese dissident poet and Independent Chinese PEN Center cofounder Bei Ling (貝嶺) said.
Lam responded by arriving later at the exhibition, Bei said.
Hong Kong publishers have continued to print banned books, but sales have plummeted following the Causeway Bay Book disappearances, Lam said.
Citing the banned book History’s Vanguard: The Chinese Communist Party’s Promises (歷史的先聲—中國共產黨曾經的承諾) as an example, Lam said the thwarting of the publication of this collection of Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) pro-democracy essays illustrates the state of freedom of speech in Hong Kong.
“This book was published in 1999 and was banned within a year in China. In recent years, several attempts were made to reprint it in Hong Kong. Sino United Publishing (聯合出版集團) did not dare do it and Cosmos Books Ltd (天地圖書) did not dare do it. In the end, the Hong Kong University Press published it. From this we can see what was wrong with Hong Kong’s publishers,” Lam said.
Although Hong Kong remains safe for dissidents, the expected passage of laws against treason, under Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law, is expected to have a tremendous negative effect on freedom of speech in the territory, he said.
Lam denied any interest in seeking political asylum or opening a bookstore in Taiwan.
Bei said he and others invited Lam to Taiwan because he wanted to observe Taiwanese reaction to the developments in Hong Kong, adding that he hoped Taiwanese publishers would continue to enjoy freedom of speech and that he could share what he observed in Taiwan with Hong Kong publishers.
In related news, the National Police Agency was initially wary of potential violence at the airport by pro-unification groups against Lam, following an incident last month against Hong Kong pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) and others, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Tuesday.
Although 101 aviation police officers were ready to be deployed at the airport on Tuesday, no protesters appeared and only 43 officers were needed to ensure Lam’s safety, the bureau said.
A police convoy of four vehicles were provided to escort Lam from the airport to his destination.
Additional reporting by Yao Chieh-hsiu
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