Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee (林榮基) said that China was behind an attack against him, after his three alleged assailants were released on bail yesterday.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s proxies have a history of attacks carried out against Hong Kongers who fled to Taiwan,” Lam told reporters. “Now they are only causing trouble for Hong Kongers, but later they will make trouble for Taiwanese.”
Lam said that he would be more vigilant.
Photo taken from the Mainland Affairs Council’s Facebook page
“I was quite surprised to hear that the suspects got released on bail so quickly,” he added. “I am, of course, fearful and will avoid walking down dark alleys.”
Lam was co-owner of Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Books (銅鑼灣書店), but was kidnapped in 2015 and detained in China for eight months for selling books banned by the Chinese government.
He was finally freed on bail and returned to Hong Kong, but opted not to return to China to face trial. He fled to Taiwan in May last year.
The opening of his new bookstore in Taipei is planned for tomorrow.
On Tuesday, Lam was at a coffee shop in Taipei when he was doused in red paint by an assailant, who street cameras showed fleeing on foot while two other men acted as lookouts.
Police in Kaohsiung on Wednesday arrested the three suspects — identified as Cheng Chi-lung (鄭啟龍), 55, who has a criminal record, along with brothers Tseng Shih-sheng (曾士晟), 28, and Tseng Shih-feng (曾士峰), 27 — and transferred them to Taipei for questioning.
Besides promising to enhance patrols around Lam’s new bookstore, Taipei police cited evidence of additional suspects, saying that they were tracking them down.
Yesterday, the three were released on bail of between NT$6,000 and NT$20,000.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday applied with the High Court to have the three returned to detention, saying that they are likely to collude with the other suspects sought and destroy evidence.
Lam urged Taiwanese authorities to determine the mastermind behind the attack, saying that China had sent its proxies to Taiwan to physically assault and silence Hong Kongers.
On Sept. 29 last year, Hong Kong singer and actress Denise Ho (何韻詩) was also attacked in Taipei with red paint, during a pro-democracy rally for Hong Kong.
“It is not just one or two people, but a whole group of people working for China,” Lam said. “If the authorities do not get to the real force behind them, these incidents will continue to occur.”
An Internet user named “Jonathan Gao” further threatened Lam on the Mainland Affairs Council’s Facebook page, writing: “Lam you had better be careful — that was only our first warning to you. We have many gangster brothers in Taipei and we have many ways to harass you to death.”
The “Jonathan Gao” Facebook account belongs to someone who claims to be from Taiwan, but who resides in Singapore, Taipei police said, adding that the person purportedly belongs to several pro-China organizations, including the Concentric Patriotism Alliance and the China Unification Promotion Party.
A Hualien pomelo farmer refused to sell to China after the country announced it would permit more Taiwanese pomelo imports, prompting widespread support from Taiwanese consumers, who rallied to buy his fruit. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said that China’s General Administration of Customs registered an additional 79 Taiwanese pomelo orchards and packing facilities in Hualien County, allowing more Taiwanese producers to export pomelos to China. “I am a Hualien fruit farmer and I refuse to sell to China,” Liu Tzu-hao (劉子豪) from Ruisui Township (瑞穗) said in an online post. Liu is a well-known farmer in the community and has served
A Chinese military drone was spotted conducting reconnaissance off Taitung County as President William Lai (賴清德) visited Pingtung County this morning to inspect a drill of the armed forces’ precision-strike capabilities, prompting the military to closely monitor its actions. Today was the final day of a three-day military exercise at Jioupeng Base (九鵬基地) to test the joint combat capabilities of the armed forces and coast guard. The exercise began on Wednesday simulating air defense interception and yesterday tested long-range strike capabilities and new air defense weapons. This morning, the military conducted a final exercise involving air defense, anti-ship and drone operations. Military sources said
OCT. 31: The antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Eraflu have been distributed to about 4,000 medical facilities nationwide for people in seven groups who develop flu-like symptoms As the domestic influenza epidemic enters its peak season and continues to escalate, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday announced that publicly funded influenza antiviral drugs for seven eligible groups have been extended to Oct. 31, allowing those who develop flu-like symptoms to receive the medication without undergoing a rapid influenza test. The CDC has extended the expanded use of flu antiviral drugs to seven groups: healthcare and influenza-prevention personnel; residents and staff at nursing homes, long-term care facilities and similar institutions; kindergarten and daycare workers and home-based caregivers; students from kindergarten through high school, vocational high school and the
UPDATE: The submarine would need to undergo combined systems testing and crew training for navy personnel before it is ready for mission, an expert said Taiwan’s first domestically built submarine, the Hai Kun (Narwhal, 海鯤), could be delivered to the navy as early as next month, military expert and Taiwan Association for Security and Development chairman Chi Tung-yun (紀東昀) said yesterday. The submarine was yesterday morning observed departing for its 21st sea trial and its 15th submerged test. The vessel missed the initial delivery deadline of November last year due to “testing delays,” its primary contractor, shipbuilder CSBC Corp, Taiwan, said in June. The contractor also cited “political pressure from China” in procuring critical equipment. All testing operations are in the final stages, with the
RSS