Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee dies at 70 in Taiwan

Lam Wing-kee, a Hong Kong bookseller known for selling politically sensitive publications and who fled to Taiwan in 2019, has died at the age of 70. He was admitted to MacKay Memorial Hospital in Taipei on Tuesday, fell into a coma on Wednesday, and died Thursday evening, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency.

Lam was one of five individuals associated with Causeway Bay Books in Hong Kong who disappeared in late 2015. The bookstore specialized in titles critical of Chinese leaders. Publisher Gui Minhai, also affiliated with the store, was later sentenced to 10 years in prison in China.

In 2016, Lam publicly recounted his detention by Chinese authorities in October 2015 after crossing into Shenzhen. He stated he was blindfolded, transported to Ningbo, and held under surveillance for five months before being forced to appear on Chinese television to confess to crimes. He was allowed to return to Hong Kong to retrieve customer data, but subsequently fled to Taiwan.

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te expressed his condolences, remembering Lam's courage and his reminder of the value of freedom and the need to defend democracy.

Lam had temporarily closed his Taipei bookstore in June due to health reasons. Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have intensified controls following the 2019 anti-government protests, with recent arrests made under a national security law for allegedly selling seditious publications.