 Hong Kong's Li Ka-shing weighs in on crisis with poetic adverts Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 16, 2019 - Hong Kong's wealthiest man Li Ka-shing took out a series of enigmatic newspaper adverts on Friday calling for an end to the political violence plaguing the financial hub. The 91-year-old billionaire's adverts -- published in seven newspapers including two staunchly pro-Beijing publications -- used poetry and layered language to deliver a nuanced message promoting peace. But his subtle phrasing contrasted starkly with many fellow tycoons who have published full-throated support for the city's embattled pro-Beijing leaders in recent days and echoed government rhetoric in denouncing violent protests. One advert featured two giant Chinese characters for "violence" crossed out in red, accompanied by the lines "the best of intentions can lead to the worst outcome" as well as "stop anger in the name of love". In another, he invoked a line from a Tang dynasty poem which describes a suffering melon tree after its fruit has been repeatedly picked -- a metaphor used to describe something on the verge of ruin after suffering too many attacks. Li signed off his messages as a private citizen and, crucially, did not specify whether he was directly addressing the government or protesters. Political scientist and commentator Simon Shen said while prominent figures in the city were required to toe the government line to "oppose violence and support the police", Li's message was the "most thoughtful and moving one". The nonagenarian tycoon is among the hugely influential coterie of Hong Kong's twentieth-century oligarchs, with Li carving his empire from various sectors and a real estate market now notorious for its sky-high prices. He invested heavily in China in the 1990s, the dedicated capitalist courting Beijing's Communist leaders as the nation began to emerge as an economic superpower. But his relationship with Beijing has had its thorny moments, with his moves to offload major mainland property investments in previous years irking Chinese critics. After the adverts were published, his spokesperson put out some extra comments by Li which hinted at sympathy for some of the grievances aired by the primarily young protesters. "The young always fear the future has nothing to do with them. Investing in our next generation will always bear fruit for our city. Investing in the future matters," Li said.
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Watching the Hong Kong protests from afar, Chinese dissident-artist Ai Weiwei fears the worst, warning of a repeat of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.
"I don't think any prediction is too big," the 61-year-old told AFP in an interview in his Berlin studio.
China "is a society which sacrifices anything to maintain its control," he warned.
"In 1989, the whole world was watching and the tanks crushed the students, ... a peaceful demonstration."
Ai's bleak warning comes after two months of protests that have turned increasingly violent, and as Beijing has massed security forces nearby on the mainland in a show of force.
Although most analysts consider a full-blown crackdown unlikely, fears of worse to come have hovered over the former British colony that was returned to China in 1997.
Ai, a long-time and outspoken government critic, says he has no illusions that Beijing values order above all else.
"At the beginning of this demonstration, two months ago, I already warned that the Chinese government eventually, if they cannot make this demonstration disappear, will use violence," he said.
"There is no other way, they can't talk about the situation or negotiate. That's not a skill they have. All they have is the military and the police."
- 'Mental violence' -
Ai, China's best known modern artist around the world, once helped design Beijing's Bird's Nest Olympic stadium, but later found himself at the receiving end of the state's wrath.
The New York-trained artist had confronted authorities especially after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, charging that corruption and shoddily built state school buildings had heightened the death toll.
Ai was detained for 81 days in 2011 amid a crackdown on dissent. His passport was confiscated and only returned to him in 2015, after which he moved to Berlin.
"I share their frustration," he said about the Hong Kong protesters. "I see myself as one of them, and I see them as part of me.
"As a victim of the Chinese authoritarian state, I have been secretly detained, I've been beaten, I have been put in jail, nobody knew where ... so what am I gonna say?"
In an authoritarian state, Ai said, "the violence is not just physical, the violence is mental, it's being refused any discussion. This kind of violence, this state violence, is horrible."
What the Hong Kong protesters are doing "is perfectly right", he argued.
"They should defend 'one country, two systems'. They should not let Hong Kong's freedom disappear. And the only way they can do that is to keep fighting."
- 'Suicide game' -
From his Berlin base, a sweeping studio complex in a former brewery, Ai, also a documentary film-maker, weeks ago deployed a camera crew to the Hong Kong unrest.
Since then, he said, he has witnessed the situation get "worse and worse, because the people are so frustrated", while police started using tear gas and batons.
"Hong Kong students never experienced a situation like that," Ai said. "The demonstrators, most of them are born since the 90s, they never knew Hong Kong would have this kind of situation."
Ai also took aim at Western countries, charging that too many are scared to stand up to Beijing and endanger their commercial interests.
"Western countries want to take advantage of China ... the factory of the world," he said, describing it as a country with "no human rights, no regulations on working conditions, no environmental concerns".
"So they shy away from talking about human rights, and I disagree with them," said the artist.
"I think it is very short-sighted, I think this is a suicide game they are playing. Because they have to see humanity and the human condition as one."
Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong, in a similar vein, told Germany's Bild daily that he did "not understand how Germany, as part of the free world, can cooperate with China in this way".
Wong called on Chancellor Angela Merkel "to send a clear signal to President Xi (Jinping) not to send troops to Hong Kong and to give Hong Kong the right to free elections".
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