Dissident Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee dies aged 70

Lam Wing-kee, a Hong Kong dissident and bookseller, has died at the age of 70 in Taiwan. According to reports, he was taken to Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei on Tuesday and later fell into a coma. He died late on Thursday.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te expressed deep sadness over Lam's death in a Facebook post, sending condolences to his family and friends. Lai wrote that Lam's life "bore witness to the value of freedom of expression, and to the fear and suffering inflicted by authoritarian repression." He noted that Lam chose not to remain silent but instead reopened Causeway Bay Books in Taiwan, turning it into a gathering place for Hong Kong friends to speak out and support each other.

Last year, in his final BBC interview for Witness History, Lam said: "Everyone has their own values. You can't go against your values, nor can you betray others. If you believe something is right, you should continue to stick to it. It's not like you're harming anyone. If everyone could do that, this would of course be a better place."

In 2015, Lam was arrested during a visit to mainland China and detained for over 400 days. He was among several bookshop owners and staff who disappeared and were later found to have been detained by Chinese authorities as part of a crackdown on bookshops in the former British colony that sold publications critical of China's leaders.

Lam said the confession broadcast on Chinese television was staged and acted out to a script. His case fueled fears of China's increasing encroachment on Hong Kong's freedoms, which led to months-long mass protests in 2019 in Hong Kong—China's special administrative region since 1997.