Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li takes out newspaper ads in support of ‘one country, two systems’ principle, calls for end to protests

Richard Li Tzar-kai, the Hong Kong telecoms tycoon and younger son of Li Ka-shing, the city’s richest man, backed the “one country, two systems” principle in full-page adverts in seven newspapers on Thursday.

First among local industry captains to speak after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Wednesday she would formally withdraw the controversial extradition bill and set up a platform to examine the causes behind the unprecedented and sometimes violent protests the city has faced for 13 weeks now, he also called for an end to the protests and the restoration of social order.

“Citizens should stop violence, rebuild a harmonious society and restore social order with the rule of law,” Li, 52, said in the adverts, which appeared in Oriental Daily News, Sing Tao Daily, Ming Pao, Ta Kung Pao, Wen Wei Po and Hong Kong Economic Times, as well as the Hong Kong Economic Journal, which is owned by a trust he owns.

He said the “one country, two systems” principle was the foundation of a prosperous and stable Hong Kong, and backed the recommendations of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong policy. The HKMAO on Tuesday called for all branches of the government, including the judiciary, to help stop violence and restore order.

Investment firm Pacific Century Group, which Li owns and chairs, as well as insurer FWD, a company he owns, took out similar adverts in the same newspapers on August 16, condemning violence at protests, but Li’s name was not mentioned. Thursday’s adverts, however, bore the billionaire’s name.

Li owns a range of businesses, from telecommunications, media, insurance and investment funds to a forthcoming virtual bank, and is Hong Kong’s 21st richest man, with a net worth of US$4.5 billion as of this year.