Former Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee dies in Taipei

Lam Wing-kee, a former Hong Kong bookseller who became an international figure after his 2015 disappearance in mainland China, died in Taipei on Thursday, July 2, 2026. He was 70. His death was reported by Taiwan’s Central News Agency, which cited an unnamed source.

Lam had suffered a relapse of lung cancer last year and was admitted to MacKay Memorial Hospital in Taipei on Tuesday, June 30. He fell into a coma on Wednesday and died the following evening. No official cause of death has been announced.

He was one of five individuals connected to Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Books, a store known for selling publications about Chinese leaders, who vanished in late 2015. Lam later stated that he was detained by Chinese authorities in October 2015 after crossing from Hong Kong into Shenzhen. He said he was blindfolded during a 13-hour train journey to Ningbo, where he was held under constant surveillance for five months and later forced to make a televised confession.

In 2016, after being allowed to return to Hong Kong on bail, Lam publicly challenged the official account of his detention at a press conference. Fearing further legal action amid a political crackdown, he relocated to...