Taichung’s Formosa Bookstore (豐原三民書局), a local landmark for pro-democracy advocates for 50 years, is to shut its doors for good in September, proprietor Lee Chin-hsiang (利錦祥) said on Friday.
The cultural icon has been operating at a loss due to rising Fengyuan District (豐原) rents and a declining interest in brick-and-mortar bookshops, said Lee, who co-owns the store with his wife, Chen Tzu-mei (陳姿媚).
“The commercial environment for bookstores is to the point where survival is difficult even for chain stores, let alone independent bookstores,” Lee said. “Keeping the Formosa Bookstore open is causing my old employees undue hardship.”
Photo: Chang Hsuan-che, Taipei Times
However, finding a new location for the store has not been ruled out, he added.
Lee and Chen in 1978 took over Hua Gu Book City, in business more than 10 years, and renamed it the Formosa Bookstore.
Known for selling dangwai (黨外, “outside the party”) journals behind the back of the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, the bookstore became a meeting place for dissidents before and after the Formosa Incident.
The incident occurred when Formosa Magazine organized a demonstration commemorating Human Rights Day, as a way of demanding democracy in Taiwan.
The KMT regime had never allowed public expression of discontent, and violence followed as demonstrators arrived and found military police, soldiers and police officers already in position. The government court-martialed and jailed eight pro-democracy advocates and the bookstore was placed under government surveillance for years afterward.
Lee cofounded the Taiwan New Literature Magazine, and hosted lectures on literature and the arts twice a month at the bookstore.
Numerous figures prominent in Taiwanese culture spoke at the events, including writers Lin Wen-yi (林文義), Lin Shuangbu (林雙不) and Wu Sheng (吳晟), as well as director Wu Nien-jen (吳念真).
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
Tropical storm Guchol is moving in a northeasterly direction off the east coast of the Philippines and will not hit Taiwan, but will impact local weather starting on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said Thursday. The storm would bring a low-pressure system northward toward the vicinity of Taiwan, forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. Northern Taiwan will see intermittent rain showers in the morning, and thunderstorms in the afternoon on Friday, he said, adding that rain would be heavier on the east coast and in the central-southern mountainous areas. Rainfall would continue into Saturday, and would spread throughout Taiwan proper, he
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
#METOO MOVEMENT: A woman who formerly worked at the TPP said that she was repeatedly harassed by a party deputy secretary last year and it was covered up Vice President and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman William Lai (賴清德) yesterday announced new party procedures for filing complaints and investigating reports of sexual misconduct in response to more accusations of negligence against the party in handling reports of sexual abuse. In what local media dubbed Taiwan’s #MeToo movement, more people went public yesterday with allegations about the DPP, other parties and local governments. Lai said he deeply regrets the situation and apologized to the victims, while also praising them for having the courage to come forward. “When facing bullying and violations in the workplace, it is most important to stand up to
RSS