Lam Wing-kee (林榮基), a former Hong Kong bookstore owner who fled to Taiwan in 2019 over fears of being arrested for selling books critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said Sunday he has applied for permanent residency in Taiwan.
Lam told CNA over the phone that last week he officially filed an application with Taiwan’s government for a residence permit as a professional in the field of culture and arts, and expects to be informed of the outcome of the application next year.
Lam said he has lived in Taiwan on a tourist visa or work visa since 2019 and the temporary permits require him to apply for an extension when they expire.
Once granted a permanent residence permit, he will be able to really settle down in Taiwan, Lam added.
Lam noted that he is wanted by the Chinese authorities and cannot return to Hong Kong which is fully controlled by China and lost its freedoms and some democratic rights after Beijing enacted the Hong Kong national security law in 2020. Under the law, no dissent is allowed, he said.
Among China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Taipei is the last bastion of democracy and freedom, Lam said, noting that after he came to the island, he participated in various rallies and marches.
“Some things are not easy to obtain” and must be cherished, Lam said, adding that as he has decided to live in Taiwan, in the future, he will defend Taiwan’s democracy and freedom and not leave even if there is a war.
Noting that the Chinese ideology and goal has always been eventual unification with Taiwan, Lam said that CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping (習近平) obtained a precedent-breaking third term after the the 20th National Congress of the CCP that further saw him consolidate his grip over the party.
Given that Xi is already 69 years old, he may not wait eight or 10 years, but could possibly take action over Taiwan in the next few years. “So protecting Taiwan is an urgent issue,” Lam emphasized.
Lam, a former owner of Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Books, went missing along with four other staff members in late 2015, sparking international concern.
In February 2016, authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong confirmed that Lam and two others had been taken into custody. He was later released on bail and allowed to return to Hong Kong in June that year.
Lam went into self-imposed exile in New Taipei in 2019 and reopened his Causeway Bay Bookstore in Taipei in 2020.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel