Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing invokes poetry in call for end to protests and violence

• In a statement, he says ‘the melon of Huangtai cannot bear the picking again’ – meaning something has suffered so much that further attack would ruin it
• It didn’t go unnoticed in the mainland, with hashtag #LiKa-shingSpeakingOut one of the most searched-for phrases on Weibo – until it was disabled