Democratic Progressive Party Secretary-General Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉) and Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kei (林榮基) yesterday discussed the right to political protest at a public event, at which Lam also announced his plan to open a bookstore in Taipei.
Billed as “A Dialogue Between Two Bookstore Bosses,” Luo and Lam discussed politics, democracy, repression by China and promoting reading among the youth under the theme: “Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow Taiwan?”
Operating a bookstore under an oppressive regime is very dangerous, said Luo, who also owns Buffalo Bookstore, the venue for the dialogue.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
As the founder of Causeway Bay Books in Hong Kong, Lam stocked political books, Luo said, adding that Lam was arrested in 2015 when crossing the border into Shenzhen, and was detained and tortured by Chinese authorities for eight months.
“This is why [Hong Kong] protesters are fighting against the extradition bill, because China kidnapped Lam illegally... From this case, people there realized that China’s promise of ‘one country, two systems’ was impossible, and they see the bill as a way for Chinese authorities to legitimize such illegal kidnappings,” Luo said.
“Many Hong Kongers said they are now under darkness, but are hoping to return to the sunshine. We must wonder why there are Taiwanese who are living in the sunshine, but want to live in darkness,” Luo said.
Lam said he plans to open a bookstore in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町), because it is a popular area for young people.
“Taiwan’s youth are looking at their mobile phones all the time. If they do not read books, they will not have a good understanding of the outside world, which ... poses a grave danger for Taiwan’s future,” Lam said.
His vision is to open a bookstore where people can connect.
“It could become a place for academics, youths and students to communicate and interact with each other, so it would not just be for selling books,” Lam said.
Lam said that his Taiwanese visa expires next month, “but I know I cannot go back to Hong Kong.”
He said he hopes the government would let him stay and open a bookstore.
“Bookstores are small, and difficult to manage and keep going, but ruling regimes are fearful of them, because a bookstore has its own soul and its own thoughts,” Luo said. “It would be Taiwan’s good fortune if Lam opened his store in Taipei.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS