TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A book linked to recent Hong Kong bookstore arrests has sold out at several bookstores in Taiwan, with readers buying it in support of free speech and independent publishing, The Guardian reported Thursday.
CNA reported that Hong Kong police searched two bookstores last week and arrested five people accused of displaying and selling books described as “seditious.” Police also took away a woman wearing a shirt that read, “I am a bookstore worker,” and the phrase soon spread across social media.
Bookstore owners, lawmakers, and activists in Taiwan used the phrase to show support for Hong Kong. President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said political pressure should not restrict people’s thoughts or writing.
Police did not name the books involved in the case, but reports linked one of them to “Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China.” Written by former National Public Radio correspondent Emily Feng (馮哲芸), the book examines identity, political control, and everyday life in China.
Taiwanese publisher Acropolis Publishing ordered an emergency reprint of 10,000 copies after demand rose sharply. A senior editor said some readers bought the book to support democracy and show that censorship would not silence them.
The book sold out at several Taipei bookstores despite receiving little attention before the arrests. One customer said she was usually not interested in books about China, but the police action made her curious.
The book includes a chapter about Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee (林榮基), who was detained by Chinese authorities in 2015. Lam later moved to Taiwan and reopened Causeway Bay Books in Taipei.
“Taiwan is now the only place in the Chinese-speaking world where people can openly express their feelings about repression by the Chinese government,” The Guardian reported.
