Jimmy Lai’s Son Warns Firms on Hong Kong Reopening

  • Sebastian Lai, son of Apple Daily founder, spoke in Washington
  • Event highlighted risks as Hong Kong spends on re-branding

Buildings across Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong.

Photographer: Lam Yik/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

The son of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai is warning Western businesses about investing in Hong Kong as the Asian financial center attempts to re-brand itself and lure foreign firms after strict travel curbs kept the city isolated during the pandemic.

Sebastien Lai, whose 75-year-old father has been imprisoned in Hong Kong and saw his popular pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper shuttered by the government in 2021, told a crowd in Washington on Wednesday that the risks in Hong Kong have soared even as the city’s role in China’s economy has shrunk.