Q&A With Ad Mart's Jimmy Lai

Blunt and ruthlessly critical of his mistakes, Jimmy Lai sipped tea in the elegant Asian simplicity of his house in Hong Kong's Kowloon district as he spoke with Asia Regional Editor Mark L. Clifford on Oct. 2. Clad in his trademark suspenders and blue jeans, Lai minced few words as he talked about his troubles with online retailing venture adMart.

Outspoken and fearless, Lai is a rough-hewn outsider among Hong Kong's elite, unconcerned that he's ostracized for his attacks on China's Communist Party leadership, most notably former Prime Minster Li Peng. A self-taught intellectual and founder of Hong Kong's irreverently popular Apple Daily newspaper, Lai is a voracious reader who numbers Austrian free-market economist Friedrich von Hayek among his favorite authors -- but is known among employees and friends for his no-strings generosity. Here are edited extracts of the interview: