When someone defies an oppressive regime, it’s like a lone dinghy sailing headlong into an entire armada. To casual onlookers in cushy, stable democracies, such freedom fighters may seem foolhardy. Think Alexei Navalny returning to Russia, knowing only incarceration awaits. Yet, it’s this very David-and-Goliath disproportionality that is so evocative and threatening to totalitarianism – no one forgets the photo of Tank Man taken after the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
In Troublemaker by Mark L Clifford, president of an NGO fighting for Hong Kong democracy, we follow the staggering rags-to-riches-to-prison-scrubs story of tycoon turned activist Jimmy Lai.
At 12, Lai escaped mainland China during the deadliest famine ever, caused by Mao Zedong’s agricultural collectivisation – people resorted to eating “grilled field mice”. In Hong Kong, Lai slept and worked in a clothing factory. He went on to own one that supplied US brands. Realising retailers quadrupled his profits, he created Giordano, and fast fashion was born.
The pivotal, radicalising moment came in 1989 with the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Soon, Britain would cede control of Hong Kong to China. Moved by the students’ bravery, Lai launched Next, a pro-democracy magazine, and founded Apple Daily newspaper, using both to galvanise peaceful protests like Hong Kong’s 79-day Umbrella Movement in 2014.
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In 2020, when the Communist Party of China enacted a draconian law outlawing free speech, the undaunted magnate was apprehended on trumped-up charges. Lai could have fled but preferred to expose China’s “ruthlessness to the world”.
Lai is not your typical freedom fighter, especially to westerners weary of neoliberalism. Haunted by privations under communism, Lai’s a staunch libertarian, championing open markets – even supporting Donald Trump in 2016. While largely admiring, Clifford avoids hagiography, conceding that some Apple Daily features were gutter journalism, its nadir being reviews of real brothels to seem edgy.
Clifford’s writing is clear, unadorned and well-paced. While the blizzard of names – Lai’s many associates – can be hard to keep track of, the biography is consistently compelling.
The last chapters shift to the present tense, describing Lai’s prison routine. Though it’s saddening and enraging that such an irrepressible figure is detained for exercising freedoms basic in open societies, Lai’s response is inspirational. Far from desolation, Lai sees imprisonment as a means to practice Christian humility and equanimity. Clifford notes that 100 interviewees requested anonymity, fearing retaliation from China. Although behind bars, Lai remains freer than most.
