This archive report was first published on 25 April 2020.
On April 25, 2020, Hong Kong publisher Lam Wing-kee reopened his bookstore, Causeway Bay Books, in Taipei, Taiwan, in defiance of Beijing's attempts to intimidate him.
The bookstore was destroyed by China in 2015 after Lam and four other booksellers vanished and resurfaced in custody on the mainland.
Lam was allowed to return to Hong Kong in 2016 on the condition that he pick up a computer hard drive containing bookstore customer information and return. However, he skipped bail and went public with his story of being blindfolded and interrogated by mainland police.
"Causeway Bay Books was destroyed by China through violent means," Lam said at the reopening. "The reopening proves Taiwan is a place with freedom and democracy, and we still have the right to read books."
Despite the challenges, Lam raised around $200,000 through an online crowd-funding campaign to reopen the shop, which focuses on political titles and was decorated with banners reading "Taiwan independence" and "Free Hong Kong, revolution now".
Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, sent a bouquet of flowers to the store opening, praising Taiwan's democratic system and its value of the rule of law and human rights.
