Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday praised late Causeway Bay Books founder Lam Wing-kei (林榮基) for standing up to authoritarianism in his lifelong pursuit of freedom and democracy.
Speaking during a memorial service at Che-lam Presbyterian Church in Taipei, Cho described Lam, who relocated to Taiwan in 2019 amid intensifying unrest in Hong Kong and a widening government crackdown, as a democracy advocate admired by many.
“Mr. Lam’s passing is a tremendous loss and a source of deep grief for all those in Taiwan and Hong Kong who cherish democracy and freedom,” Cho said. “Today, we gather to pay our highest tribute to the extraordinary courage he displayed throughout his lifelong struggle against authoritarian tyranny.”
Photo by Cheng Yu-chen, AFP
In 2015, Lam was abducted and later detained in mainland China, along with four others linked to Causeway Bay Books, which was known for selling political books banned by the Chinese Communist Party.
He was released on bail in 2016 and instructed to return to the bookstore to retrieve customer data.
Instead, he fled and held a news conference, where he detailed the incident that later became known as the Causeway Bay Books “disappearances.”
Cho said Lam’s remarks continue to resonate today: “Although I have seen readers kneel, I have never seen a desk kneel.”
As people mourn Lam’s passing, the Hong Kong government continues to raid independent bookstores and arrest booksellers, Cho said.
Hong Kong authorities on July 15 searched Greenfield Book Store and Have a Nice Stay, both in Mong Kok, and arrested five people on suspicion of importing seditious literature.
Local media reported that one of the imported titles was the Chinese-language edition of Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China, published by a Taiwanese publisher.
“This latest crackdown once again demonstrates, in the starkest terms, how the authoritarian system is steadily destroying Hong Kong and pushing it toward an era in which books themselves are banned,” Cho said. “Such actions are not only destroying Hong Kong; they are also undermining the universal values of democracy and freedom.”
At the event, Cho presented a citation on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德), which was accepted by Lam’s son, in recognition of the bookstore owner’s contributions to publishing, human rights advocacy and cultural exchanges between Taiwan and Hong Kong.
In 2020, Lam reopened Causeway Bay Books in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山). It moved to Zhongzheng District (中正) in 2024.
Then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and then-vice president Lai visited the bookstore in 2020.
Lam’s funeral was yesterday afternoon.
He was to be laid to rest at Peace Garden Cemetery in New Taipei City’s Jinshan District (金山), the church said.
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