Jimmy Lai

Lai Chee-Ying (Chinese: 黎智英, born 8 December 1947 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China), known professionally as Jimmy Lai, is a Hong Kong entrepreneur. He founded Giordano, an Asian clothing retailer, and Next Digital (Formerly Next Media), a Hong Kong-listed media company and a Chinese-language media group. He is one of the main contributors to the pro-democracy camp, especially to the Democratic Party.

Lai and Martin Lee at 1 July marches, 2013

Quotes

• When I escaped from China and came to Hong Kong, the contrast was that China was like hell and Hong Kong, like heaven. Though I was very poor, I smelled the air of freedom and was full of hope for the future. That’s the way I thought heaven is.
  • November 01, 2014 ‘Never Discouraged’: Pro-Democracy Newspaperman Joins Hong Kong Student Protesters

• If I really treated business like a businessman, I wouldn’t have done what I have done — opposing China. No businessman in their right mind would do this, because you know that there will be repercussions.
  • January 11, 2015 For Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong’s Rebellious Tycoon, Next Battle May Be in Court

• The intention of the Chinese government taking away our freedom is so obvious that we know, if we don't fight, we will lose everything...When you lose the freedom, you lose everything. What do you have?
  • October 13, 2019 What keeps the months-long, massive Hong Kong protests going?

• I don't regret my support for the protest movement. I came here empty-handed, and I owe everything I've got to the freedom of Hong Kong. Maybe it's time for me to give it back... I think there's more to life than money.
  • June 16, 2020, interviewed by AFP

• I don't want to leave Hong Kong, the only thing we can do is persist, not to lose spirit or hope. And to think that what is right will eventually prevail.
  • June 16, 2020, interviewed by AFP

• I am not leaving Hong Kong, I will stay and fight until the last day, whether or not I am a prime target of Beijing's use of national security laws to suppress, it does not matter. Everyone in Hong Kong, especially those working in the media, is worried because anything we say or publish publicly could be used by the government as evidence of subversion or incitement to disorder.
  • June 29, 2020 (i.e. The eve before Hong Kong national security law being commenced on June 30), interviewed by Deutsche Welle