Hong Kong’s Richest Man Li Ka-Shing Marginalized for Not Actively Supporting CCP

Hello, everyone, welcome to “Inconvenient Truths”. I am your host Jennifer Zeng.  

 I am not sure whether you’ve read such a joke or not: In totalitarian countries, first, people are persecuted for criticizing the dictator. Secondly, they are persecuted for remaining silent and not praising the dictator. Thirdly, they will be persecuted for not praising the dictator enthusiastically enough. 

You think this is a joke? Well, this joke has just become reality in Hong Kong, with Hong Kong’s richest  man Li Ka-shing as the latest example. 

Li Ka-shing Receiving a Pfizer Vaccine Instead of Sinovac 

A recent photo of Li Ka-shing receiving a Pfizer vaccine instead of a China-made one has once again drawn attention to the relationship between Li and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

 On April 16, the Li Ka Shing Foundation posted a photo of Li receiving a CCP virus vaccine on its Facebook page, captioned: “I am getting my vaccination today, have you got yours?”

Patrick Nip, Secretary for the Civil Service of Hong Kong, quickly responded by thanking Li for his support of Hong Kong’s vaccination program.

However, people noticed that the 92-year-old Li chose to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and not the China-made Sinovac vaccine that the Hong Kong government has been pushing hard.

Before Hong Kong’s mass protests in 2019, Li had been a long-time favorite of the CCP, with the CCP trying to make good use of him to expand its influence. He not only invested heavily in mainland China but also helped the CCP to secure many international projects. 

However, during the anti-extradition bill protests in Hong Kong, Li failed to show his support for the CCP. That was when the CCP started to marginalize the property tycoon who was no longer obedient to the party.

Organization Led by Li Ka-shing Excluded From Hong Kong’s New Election Committee

Earlier this month, Hong Kong began to implement the reforms passed by the CCP’s National People’s Congress for the city’s electoral system on March 30, which is widely seen as a move by the CCP to marginalize the local business elite. 

The new rules reduce the number of directly elected lawmakers to the city’s Legislative Council, while expanding the total number of seats from 70 to 90, as well as expanding the number of members on Hong Kong’s electoral commission, which selects the city’s chief executive, from 1,200 to 1,500.

This “reform” means that the CCP will have more control over Hong Kong’s election committee, and Hong Kong’s freedom is even more dead, if it's even possible to be more dead after you have already died.

Free Speech Is Dying

Talking about Hong Kong’s freedom being dead, let me show you a short clip first.

 What we are watching is that at about 4:00 am in the morning on April 12, four men broke into the printing factory of the Epoch Times Newspaper in Hong Kong, and then smashed the machines as well as computers. They also threw a lot of lime  powder and stones onto the machines, did a lot of damage and then ran away. 

As a result, The Hong Kong Epoch Times was not able to print any newspapers until 4 days later, when they urgently repaired the machines.

By the way, the Epoch Times is one of the only few media in Hong Kong that remains independent of the CCP. 

 On Nov 19 in 2019, a similar event also happened to the printing factory of the Epoch Times Newspaper in Hong Kong. 4 men armed with short sticks, burst into the factory and threatened the workers. One of them poured gasoline on the ground and another one lit a fire. Then they quickly fled.

Another fact is, the police in Hong Kong never managed to catch those men who did the damage. Who are they? I highly suspect that they were hired by the CCP. Otherwise, who has the motive to smash the printing factory of a newspaper? 

Now, let’s see Picture 5. This is a Thumbnail photo from a Hong Kong Epoch Times talk show program airing last December, with me as a guest. The other lady is the host, Sarah Liang. She is also a reporter of the Epoch Times. We talked about the CCP’s influence operation in the US and the world. 

Now, let’s watch a video Sarah shot yesterday after she found that this man was following her on the street. The man ran away after he found out that Sarah was recording him.

Actually, on April 24, a strange man even went to Sarah’s home to harass her. This man said to the security guard of the apartment building that he had something to deliver to Sarah. He was then allowed to go to Sarah’s apartment upstairs. 

 When he saw Sarah, he only said, “Aren’t you Sarah?”  But Sarah didn’t know him, nor did he have anything to deliver to her.  He refused to tell her who he was either, and went away. Sarah followed him downstairs and took this photo of him. 

So, this is how serious the situation is in Hong Kong. People have not only lost their right to elect the Legislative Council members, but also their right to enjoy free speech. A printing factory of an independent media is smashed, and  journalists are being followed on the street.  What will happen next?

Now, let’s go back to Li Ka-shing’s story. 

A day after Beijing’s rubber stamp legislature passed the new “patriot” election law, the pro-Beijing Hong Kong government under Chief Executive Carrie Lam took the lead in actively stating its support. But of the four major property developers in Hong Kong, Li’s Cheung Kong Holding was one day late to express its support. And it made its position known on April 1—April Fool’s Day.

In the meantime, while many “patriotic and Hong Kong-loving organizations” were added to the newly expanded Election Committee, the Federation of Hong Kong Chiu Chow Community Organizations, which has Li as its honorary president, was excluded.

Disappointed by the decision, the federation has sent a letter to Carrie Lam expressing its views.  

Li Ka-shing Played Pivotal Role in China’s Strategic Global Investment Projects

The CCP has been using Hong Kong capital to invest in its strategic projects around the world. As Hong Kong’s richest man, Li could hardly avoid the fate of acting as an agent for the CCP’s global expansion.

Li’s investments have focused on strategic projects in Europe and Australia in communications, power, ports, and natural gas pipelines. However, several of his attempts to invest in the United States were blocked because of his dealings with the CCP. 

As of October 2015, Li controlled nearly 30 percent of the natural gas market, a quarter of the electricity distribution market, and 5 percent of the water supply market in the United Kingdom, which is his main country of investment.

Meanwhile, Li’s CK Hutchison Holdings consolidated its position in the European telecommunications market with a major acquisition spree that unified his telecommunications businesses in six European countries, Hong Kong, and Macau. 

In November 2020, CK Hutchison sold its European wireless towers business for €10 billion ($11.7 billion) to improve its operational efficiency and accelerate 5G roll-out. 

In July 2018, it acquired the remaining half of Wind Tre, an Italian telecommunications company, for €2.45 billion ($2.95 billion).

In May last year, CK Hutchison put in a $1.5 billion bid for the construction of the world’s largest desalination plant in Israel. But the bid was rejected by Israel’s defense minister. Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also opposed Chinese involvement in Israeli infrastructure.

Had the bid not ended in failure, CK Hutchison would have controlled nearly a quarter of Israel’s water industry, and desalination is a key project in the CCP’s “Made in China 2025” program. 

Also, the plant is very close to an empty military base and nuclear research facilities in Israel; and that was another reason for the strong opposition from Israel’s defense minister. 

Back in 1997, Li’s Hutchison Whampoa acquired the 25 year rights to operate two major ports on the Panama Canal—one of the world’s two major canals. Hutchison Whampoa has also invested heavily in development near the ports.

This set off alarm bells in U.S. security circles because of Li’s personal friendship with several top Chinese officials, including senior figures in the PLA, People Liberation Army. 

In a U.S. House hearing on Panama Canal in 1999, Hutchison Whampoa’s connection with “the inner circle of Beijing’s ruling elite” was especially highlighted. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher mentioned in the hearing that, “With the exit of American security forces, the situation in Panama is deteriorating. I recently visited Panama and it was very evident. The mainland Chinese criminal triad gangs, some of whom have ties to Chinese intelligence agencies, are active throughout Panama.”

In the same year when Hutchison Whampoa acquired the ports, Panama broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan and switched to ally with the CCP.

By 2006, Hutchison Port Holdings had assumed control of scores of potential economic choke points, including 169 berths at 41 ports worldwide. These facilities control about 15 percent of global maritime container traffic.

Also, 10 percent of the Hutchison Panama Ports Co. is owned by China Resources Enterprise, which is the commercial arm of China’s Ministry of Trade and Economic Cooperation.

In its investigation into the CCP’s attempts to influence the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign, the U.S. Senate Government Affairs Committee identified China Resources Enterprise as a conduit  for “espionage—economic, political and military—for China.”

Republican Sen. Trent Lott has described Li’s Hong Kong firm as “an arm of the People’s Liberation Army.”

Li Ka-shing’s Long-Standing Relationship with the CCP

The relationship between the Li family and the CCP began during the Deng Xiaoping era, and entered a honeymoon period after Jiang Zemin took power, when he received special treatment because of his investments in China. 

In May 1996, Li’s eldest son, Victor Li Tzar Kuoi, was kidnapped by crime king “Big Spender” Cheung Tze-keung and Li was extorted for $1 billion. 

According to the Apple Daily, after Cheung successfully extorted the $1 billion and escaped to mainland China, Li managed to appear very calm on the surface but secretly reported this matter to Jiang Zemin. 

Jiang “expressed deep sympathy and indignation,” and ordered to have Cheung arrested. 

The CCP police in Guangdong successfully found and caught Cheung, who was later sentenced to death and executed at gunpoint on Dec. 5, 1998.

During the 2019 anti-extradition protests, the CCP forced Hong Kong’s elite from all walks of life to express their support for the CCP’s crackdown. 

 Almost all Chinese language newspapers in Hong Kong, with the exception of the Apple Daily and The Epoch Times, published pro-CCP content.

At the peak of all the saga, on Aug. 16, 2019, Li placed an advertisement in the name of “a Hong Kong resident,”  with the main message “the melon of Huangtai cannot bear the picking again.” 

This ad is based on a poem written by Crown Prince Li Xian during the reign of Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty, that was more than 1000 years ago.  After Wu Zetian killed one of Li Xian’s brothers, Li Xian wrote the poem, begging Wu Zetian not to kill more people. However, Li Xian was later also killed by Wu Zetian. 

So Li Ka-shing’s advertisement was widely interpreted as a subtle shout-out to Beijing. 

On May 27 last year, the Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao asked Li about his attitude towards the CCP’s intention to pass the Hong Kong national security law. 

Li said, “I hope the passage of the national security law will ease the Central Government’s worries about Hong Kong and play a positive role in long-term stability and development; the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is duty-bound to consolidate Hong Kong people’s confidence in ‘one country, two systems’ and strengthen the trust of the international community.”

But the next day, the Ta Kung Pao’s report was titled: “Li Ka-shing: National Security Law Plays a Positive Role in Long-Term Stable Development.” The article described Li’s hopes for the national security law as certainty.

After Ta Kung Pao published this article, many media outlets also sought to interview Li. But he declined all requests, claiming that he was sick with the flu.

‘Don’t Let Li Ka-shing Run Away’

As a matter of fact, since 2013, Li has been selling off his assets in China and Hong Kong, cashing in at least HK$250 billion (US$32.19 billion). The sales include Beijing Pacific Century Place, Metropolitan Plaza in Guangzhou, the Oriental Financial Center in Shanghai, Shanghai Shengbang International Building, his property in Hong Kong, and his 20 percent stake in Hongkong Electric.

After Li started to sell his assets in China, Xinhua News Agency’s think tank the Liaowang Institute published an article titled “Don’t let Li Ka-shing Run Away,” labelling any attempt by Li to leave China as an act of “moral failure.”

The article begins, “Business is like a stream of water in the first place, and it is the nature of capital to seek profit. Li can go wherever he wants to go. However, given the nature of how Li gained his wealth in China in the last two decades, his affairs seem to be more than simply business. As we all know, in China, the real estate industry is very close to power. Without power resources, it is impossible to do real estate business. The wealth of real estate, thus, does not come entirely from a thoroughgoing market economy. In this regard, it is inappropriate for Li Ka-shing to just run away as long as he wants to.” 

The article asserted that as a person who has gained a lot from his partnership with China, Li had three missions to fulfill before he could turn his back on China:

1. Paying back the poor by being responsible to the society.

2. Stabilizing Hong Kong and assuming the responsibility of a business leader.

3. Doing more good deeds, and running businesses for the society. 

On May 27, 2019, the major Chinese website sina.com published an article titled “Li Ka-shing Really Ran Away.”

The article says, “A group of businessmen led by Li Ka-shing, who enjoyed the dividends of China’s reform and opening up, started to cash out in the process of China’s economic transformation and upgrading. There is nothing wrong for businessmen to pursue profits, but don’t let those businessmen who used all the under-the-table rules to gain profits to damage the credit of business and erode the foundation of China’s economy.”

 Well, that’s all for today’s Inconvenient Truths. I personally think Li is very wise to choose to run away from China as early as in 2013, when many people were still rushing into China. Sometimes it is more important and more difficult to know when to exit; and maybe only a small number of people can make the right choice.

By the way, I just opened a new channel. I plan to do a series of  programs in Chinese to talk about in detail my personal experiences in Chinese jails and the labor camp for practicing Falun Gong. If you have any Chinese speaking friends and families, please ask them to subscribe to that channel. I have put a link in the description box under the video.

Thank you so much. See you soon!

4/27/2021

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