Hong Kong’s freedom to publish is facing Chinese intervention, former Causeway Bay Books manager Lam Wing-kei (林榮基) said on Thursday, as he urged Taiwanese to take to the streets should Beijing attempt something similar here.
Speaking at a Taipei forum on independent bookstores in Taiwan and Hong Kong, Lam said that Hong Kong’s bookstores have slowly become “culturally isolated” following the territory’s return to China in 1997.
Prior to that, there were many independent dealers, who were the primary importers of books, including Taiwanese works, to Hong Kong, Lam said.
Since 1997, smaller dealers have shut down either due to the economic slump or mismanagement, while larger dealers, such as Joint Publishing, Commercial Press and Chung Hwa Book Co (Hong Kong), have Chinese investment, Lam said.
Such investment has led to dealers being more selective about the books they import, he said, adding that Taiwanese firm Avanguard Publishing was an example of a publisher that was blacklisted.
Books published by Avanguard focus on Taiwanese identity and culture, and in essence lean toward pursuing Taiwanese independence, Lam said.
Stores such as the Hong Kong Reader, which sells works focusing on Hong Kong research and changes in the territory’s economy, are in danger of being blacklisted as well, he said.
The 40-year-old Greenfield Bookstore has also not been doing well lately, he said, but added that with more attention on Hong Kong issues, publishers focusing on such topics should see business improve.
Lam told reporters after the event that Taiwan and Hong Kong faced similar oppression, but Taiwanese have not been attentive enough to freedom of speech issues and their voice against potential gagging has not been loud enough.
He called for more frequent exchanges between Taiwan and Hong Kong, as “Hong Kong’s future depends on Taiwan a lot.”
Maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” is the “smartest” approach, he said, adding that there is no need to accentuate the call for Taiwanese independence, as “Taiwan is already independent” from the perspectives of national defense, diplomacy and the electoral system.
Meanwhile, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said that the council had dispatched a team of more than 10 men for Lam’s protection since he arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday.
The council said there is a precedent for violence toward Hong Kongers like Lam after Hong Kong democracy advocate Joshua Wong (黃之鋒) was allegedly chased and attacked by “men in black” during a visit to Taiwan last month.
The protection arrangements were excellent, Lam said, adding in jest that they were “too good,” as he almost had no freedom.
The government respects civic interaction between Taiwan and Hong Kong, Chiu said, adding that it would not intervene in any of the events Lam plans to attend.
Additional reporting by CNA
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of