Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing Kee dies at 70

Lam was taken to Machai Memorial Hospital in Taipei on Tuesday and fell into a coma, local media reported, citing the South China Morning Post. He died late Thursday.

In a Facebook post, Taiwanese President La Chingte said he was “deeply saddened” by Lam’s death and offered condolences to his family and friends.

Lam’s life “witnesses the benefits of freedom of expression and the fear and suffering of totalitarian oppression.”

He chose silence instead. Causeway Bay opened books in TaiwanMaking Hong Kong a place where friends can gather, talk and support each other, added the Taiwanese leader.

Last year in Lam told the story to BBC Witness.: “Everyone has their own values. You can’t go against your values ​​or betray others.”

“If you believe something is right, you have to stick to it. It’s not like you’re hurting anyone. If everyone could do that, it would be a better place,” Lam said in his last BBC interview.

In the year He was arrested during a visit to mainland China in 2015 and stayed for more than 400 days.

He was among a number of bookstore owners and workers who disappeared and were later arrested by Chinese authorities in a crackdown on bookstores selling publications critical of Chinese leaders in the former British colony.

A statement on Chinese television said The stage was set and made into a script.

His case has raised concerns about China’s escalating attacks on Hong Kong’s independence, fears. In the year It led to months of public protests in 2019. Hong Kong – Special Administrative Region of China since 1997.