TAIPEI - Hong Kong dissident bookseller Lam Wing Kee reopened his bookstore in Taipei on Saturday (April 25), just days after being doused in red paint by three men who opposed his new business.

“Books stand for the freedom of thought and speech...I think opening an independently-owned bookstore in Taiwan is a means to protect the values of Taiwan; this is how my bookstore slightly differs from other independent bookstores,” he said.

“There is another way out for Hong Kong people, and that is Taiwan,” he added.

Mr Lam re-opened his book store on the one year anniversary of his escape to Taiwan. He made headlines initially in 2015 when he disappeared in Hong Kong, only to re-emerge later on the mainland and was subsequently detained for selling books banned by the Chinese authorities.

He fled Hong Kong last year when the territory’s government moved to amend the Fugitive Offenders bill to allow for the extradition of suspects to the mainland. Many opponents of the move alleged that it was aimed at dissidents.

The speaker of Taiwan’s Legislative Assembly or Yuan, Mr Yu Shyi-kun, who visited the bookstore on Saturday, spoke privately with Mr Lam.

“The fact that Lam Wing Kee is willing to restart his business in Taiwan makes me proud of Taiwan’s democracy,” Mr Yu told reporters before meeting Mr Lam.

Aside from the parliament speaker, flower baskets from Taiwanese politicians and journalists alike were delivered yesterday, filling the narrow hall leading up to the small bookstore. “May equality flow like the rolling waves, making justice like the rushing river,” read the card on the floral basket from President Tsai Ing-wen.

Mr Lam has credited the Taiwanese government for assisting him in reopening his bookstore.

“I’m a Hong Konger, so I follow the news of persecuted young (Hong Kong) people closely as well. What the Taiwanese government is doing, we all know clearly is all about helping Hong Kongers - I am grateful on their behalf,” said Mr Lam, who has relied on some NT$6 million (S$285,000) raised online through crowd-funding last year to continue his business.

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Many Taiwanese visited the bookstore yesterday, no doubt intrigued by its owner. They lined up to take the elevator to the 10th floor of the building where the small shop is located.

Two high school freshmen had travelled for over an hour from Taoyuan, saying they had been following Hong Kong current affairs closely since the protests against the extradition Bill last year.

“We’re so moved by Mr Lam; he decided to open this bookstore even as he faced oppression from the Chinese Communist Party. Some people even threw paint at him,” said Hsu Shih-hsun, 16.

Wang Tsung-fan, also 16, chimed in: “I think he’s really brave. He knew the risks (of reopening his bookstore), and yet here he is doing it.”

Another visitor, Mr Chen Yu-hai, 50, who brought along his nine-year-old son, said: “I’d been to the original Causeway Bay Bookstore before, about five or six years ago, and have been following the news of Hong Kong’s unrest quite closely since the Umbrella Movement.”

He added that the Taiwanese government should make clear to Hong Kong people fleeing to Taiwan that it is a safe place for them to stay.

The three men who attacked Mr Lam with paint were arrested on Wednesday.