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March 1, 2014

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HK tycoon hits out at plans to shut down business district

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, one of the wealthiest men in Asia, warned yesterday that planned protests to shut down Hong Kong’s central business district later this year would damage the Asian financial hub.

At his annual news conferences to announce company results, Li denounced plans by some activists to stage Occupy Central protests to shut down the business district to press the central government to allow opposition candidates to run in the election for the city’s leader by universal suffrage in 2017.

“It will harm Hong Kong,” Li told reporters after announcing solid 2013 results for his flagship company Cheung Kong Holdings yesterday.

“It will give people a bad impression ... No matter how many days are involved, each hour will damage Hong Kong. In fact, to fight for democracy, you don’t have to occupy Central in order to reach that aim.”

Dubbed “superman,” Li’s wealth and connections have made him a regional power broker.

The city’s journalists plan further protests at the weekend after an editor of a local newspaper was stabbed and seriously wounded on Wednesday.

Li denounced the attack, saying Hong Kong had to stand by its long-standing traditions of freedom of expression.

“If Hong Kong doesn’t have the rule of law, it has nothing,” Li said. “It will cause great damage to Hong Kong if it loses media freedoms.”




 

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