Jimmy Lai arrested: Know the entrepreneur who changed Hong Kong apparel, media business

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, one of the prominent democracy activists in the region, was arrested under the national security law on August 10. Hong Kong police stormed the offices of Lai’s Apple Daily newspaper and arrested the media mogul over suspected collusion with foreign forces. Lai is the founder of Giordano, an Asian clothing retailer; Next Digital, a Hong Kong-listed media company; and popular pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. 

Born in Guangdong, China in December 1948, Lai came to Hong Kong at the age of 12 and started working as a child labourer at a garment factory. He went on to found Giordano and made his initial fortune in the clothing industry. Later, he ventured into media and founded Apple Daily newspaper, a staunch supporter of pro-democracy voices. 

Lai is said to have changed the apparel and media business of Hong Kong and his net worth currently stands at more than $1 billion. According to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Apple Daily newspaper became the most-read paid newspaper in the territory in 2019, the year which witnessed massive anti-Beijing protests, leaving the city in a turmoil.

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Read: Hong Kong Police Arrest Media Tycoon Jimmy Lai Under National Security Law

Strong critic of CCP

The 71-year-old entrepreneur has been a vocal critic of the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime and has been one of the main contributors to the pro-democracy camp. Lai has often termed the CCP rule as “murderous regime” and recently echoed prominent activist Joshua Wong call to Hong Kong officials and their family members to sell off their overseas properties and renounce foreign nationalities to show absolute loyalty to Xi Jinping.

The arrest of Lai doesn’t come as a shock to Hong Kong’s relatively independent media since several media houses have started self-censorship to avoid charges under the new law. Steven Butler, Committee to Protect Journalists’ Asia program coordinator, said in a statement that the arrest of the media tycoon bears out the worst fears that Hong Kong’s security law would be used to suppress critical pro-democracy opinion and restrict press freedom.

“Jimmy Lai should be released at once and any charges dropped,” added Butler.

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(Image: Twitter / @samuelmchu)