Hong Kong-based Causeway Bay Books former manager Lam Wing-kei (林榮基) yesterday said he is not optimistic about maintaining freedom of speech in Hong Kong, adding that he is planning to open a bookstore in Taiwan next year.
Lam — who is one of five men associated with publisher and bookstore Causeway Bay Books who disappeared at the end of 2015 and reappeared in China a few months later, saying they were kidnapped by Chinese public security — attended a public forum at the National 228 Memorial Museum in Taipei yesterday.
The forum was part of a special exhibition on the 228 Incident and pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong.
Photo: CNA
After screening a short version of Raise the Umbrellas, a documentary on the origin and impact of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy “Umbrella movement” and Occupy protests in 2014, Lam said Beijing’s rule in Hong Kong has been increasingly strict in the past two decades.
“The way Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is dealing with Hong Kong is the way he will deal with Taiwan in the future,” he said, adding that Hong Kong has drastically changed since Xi took power.
Lam said the co-location arrangement gives Beijing more control over Hong Kong, and that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) might enact Article 23 of the Basic Law at the next session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
Article 23 states that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region can enact laws to prohibit acts of treason, secession, sedition, subversion or theft of state secrets, as well as prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the region, and prohibit those in the region from establishing ties with foreign organizations or bodies.
Freedom of speech would be restricted and conversations about subjects such as Hong Kong independence, Tibetan independence or Taiwanese independence would be considered a violation of national security, which many Hong Kongers are concerned about, Lam Wing-kei said.
Political commentator Paul Lin (林保華) said some people think that if the Chinese government does a good job with the “one country, two systems” formula in Hong Kong, it could set an example for Taiwan.
However, Xi would use the “one country, one system” approach in Taiwan, Lin said.
Lam Wing-kei said he has visited several areas on his 10-day visit to Taiwan and is hoping to open a bookstore in the nation next year, hopefully in an area where there are many Chinese visitors.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS