TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Causeway Bay Books store popular with readers from Hong Kong will move next month due to the end of its lease agreement, manager Lam Wing-kee (林榮基) said Thursday (July 11).

Nearly a decade ago, Lam was detained in China for five months for selling books in Hong Kong critical of the communist government. As the political climate in the former British colony grew ever more repressive, he left and opened Causeway Bay Books in Taipei in 2020.

Recent reports that the shop would leave its premises on Nanjing West Road in the Zhongshan District have caused unease, per CNA. While Lam confirmed the reports, he added that the store would reopen at a new address near Guting Mass Rapid Transit station in mid-August.

The new shop was originally scheduled to launch at the end of July, but interior decoration, as well as water and electrical work, has been taking longer than expected. The space at the new address will only be half that of the original store, Lam said.

The democracy activist said he had considered quitting when the landlord told him he wanted the Nanjing West Road property back. However, he changed his mind after a friend asked where people from Hong Kong would go if the bookstore folded.

According to Lam, Causeway Bay Books is not just a shop but a space for interaction between Taiwan and Hong Kong. Visitors from the territory still come and look at his books, but they do not buy them as they fear problems when taking them home.