Hong Kong bookseller who was held in China raises US$100,000 to open Taiwan store

A Hong Kong bookseller who disappeared into Chinese custody for half a year raised nearly $100,000 in less than a day on Friday as he tries to open a new store in Taiwan. Lam Wing-kee fled to Taiwan in April after Hong Kong announced plans to allow extraditions to China, a move which sparked months of massive street protests in the financial hub. The 64-year-old was one of five publishers selling gossip-filled tomes on China’s leaders who vanished at the end of 2015, resurfacing in mainland custody and making televised confessions. Their disappearance — and the abduction of a billionaire from a five-star hotel by suspected Chinese agents — caused widespread alarm in Hong Kong.

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