Hong Kong Bookseller Moves to Taiwan

Lam Wing-kee at Hong Kong Airport on Thursday, leaving for Taiwan

The Hong Kong government is intent on passing the extradition bill, allowing the extradition of fugitives to any place the city has an agreement with, including the mainland, Taiwan and Macau.

It's a controversial bill that worries a lot of people, including Lam Wing-kee.

You may remember him as one of the five booksellers at Causeway Bay Books who was kidnapped across to the mainland in late 2015 and reappeared back in Hong Kong in June 2016. At the time he claimed security agents in Ningbo, Zhejiang province had put him through eight months of "mental torture".

Lam resurfaced in June 2016 to tell the media of his detention

He was the only one to speak openly in Hong Kong about his experience, but now with the extradition bill coming up, Lam has decided to move to Taiwan, which he did on Thursday.

Opposition lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching, who accompanied Lam to the airport, said yesterday that Lam, 63, decided to leave a month ago and open a bookshop in Taiwan.

"He is extremely worried and convinced he is at the top of the list of those who could be extradited," Mo said. Lam, who was still wanted across the border, had "absolutely no faith in the mainland's legal system," she added.

Someone close to Lam said he had the blessing of the Taiwanese authorities. However it is unclear if his plans to open a bookshop will succeed or not.

Lam was one of five booksellers snatched and taken to China

This is not his first attempt at opening a bookshop there. Despite two years of planning, a deal to open a bookshop fell through last June. His partners pulled out after the wife of a Hong Kong investor complained of threats from mainland authorities.

Nevertheless, lawmaker and former secretary for security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said Lam's concerns were unfounded, since selling books was not illegal in Hong Kong and could not trigger extradition across the border.

"I really don't understand what's the basis of his worry," she said.

However Mo said the Chinese authorities could easily set up Lam by charging him with another crime.

Surely Lau would know that, or she has no idea what really goes on across the border?

In any event, we wish Lam the best of luck, but if he fails to set up his bookstore again, where will he go?