Police in Kaohsiung yesterday arrested three men suspected of being involved in an attack on a Hong Kong bookseller in Taipei the previous day.
Lam Wing-kei (林榮基), a co-owner of Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Books (銅鑼灣書店), who fled to Taiwan over fear of Chinese persecution, had red paint thrown on him on Tuesday morning by a man at a coffee shop in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山), just as his new bookshop in the city is set to open on Saturday.
The man fled the scene on foot, said Lam, who immediately notified the police, adding that he believed the attack was related to the new bookstore’s opening.
Photo: CNA
Early yesterday, police arrested two suspects — one man, 27, who allegedly carried out the attack, and another, 51, who is believed to have given the order. A third suspect was apprehended later in the day.
The three men, all residents of Kaohsiung, traveled to Taipei on Monday, the day before the attack, leading the police to think it was premeditated.
The incident occurred one day after Lam received a letter from a lawyer representing a bookstore in New Taipei City.
The firm accused Lam of registering a similar name to compete unfairly in the same line of business, while also infringing on its trademark, he said on Monday.
“I didn’t expect them to register and open another fake store in Taiwan,” he said, implying that the competitor is a front for Chinese authorities.
The Department of Commerce’s business registry Web site showed that the New Taipei City store is represented by a man named Chiang Tung-chan (蔣東展) and has a capital investment of NT$50,000.
The company, which does not have an English name, was registered on March 3 in Jhonghe District (中和), the registry showed.
Lam’s store was officially registered on March 31, with the English name “Causeway Bay Books Ltd,” and a Chinese name that is almost identical to the one in New Taipei City, except that it has the characters “Zhongshan” (中山) at the front of the registered name.
Lam said that his lawyer is dealing with the matter, and that he still plans to open his store in Taipei on Saturday.
Lam was one of five shareholders and staff at Causeway Bay Books in Hong Kong, which sold gossip-filled books about China’s leaders.
He disappeared into Chinese custody at the end of 2015, and was released on bail and allowed to return to Hong Kong in June 2016 to retrieve a hard drive listing the bookstore’s customers.
Instead, he jumped bail and went public.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source