🧵 A short story about how I met the man who sold Hong Kong to China… and a cautionary tale about how one super wealthy businessman can change the course of history, and not for the better, given the opportunity. This is a true story. + In 2012, I received an email from an architect in Hong Kong. He said his client, Mr. Charles Ho, would be interested in commissioning a sculpture from me. Of course, I responded. After the perfunctory back and forth, we settled on a design, and then on a price… $25k… + Plus travel arrangements, and a stipend for incidentals. I was excited, of course, as this was my first commission in Asia, and excited to see Hong Kong as well. I received a deposit, and began working. A few months later, sculpture was finished, packed for shipment, and I was off. + Upon arrival, I was met by Mr. Ho’s driver at the airport and shuttled to a very nice hotel downtown, and settled in for the night to rest up. The following morning, the driver met me again to take me up to the home where the sculpture had already been delivered, and was to be installed. + As we entered the building (a high rise in the “mid-levels”, Mr. Ho’s architect met me in the lobby. We exchanged pleasantries, and he cautioned me not to make any reference to Mr. Ho’s wife, as this home was the home of his mistress. I agreed that would not be advisable lol. + I spent the next two days working on the installation, leaving me another three days free to explore the city. Once the installation was done, I was given an envelope with a few thousand in HK dollars, for “shopping”, and told I would have the use of a driver for the remainder of my stay. +
Of course, I was flattered by their attentiveness and hospitality. The next day they scheduled a dinner party on Lamma Island, where Mr. Ho was in attendance. After dinner, he invited me to hike with him, and we had a very enjoyable conversation. He and I both smoked cigarettes as we hiked… + Which made me feel a weird kinship with him. Afterwards, he left on his helicopter. I was shuttled back to the mainland on his “small” yacht… a 162 foot boat. (His largest yacht was too large to fit into Hong Kong Harbor, btw). While we had been hiking, Charles told me a bit about his history… * His family had been the owners of the largest tobacco company in HK… and produced cigarettes… they pretty much had a monopoly on that industry. However, when he took over the business, he decided to shift their focus to journalism and news distribution… + So he began selling off their tobacco interests and founded Sing Tao News Corp… which eventually became the largest purveyor of news and publications in HK. In essence, he established a vertical monopoly on news production and delivery, also acquiring the majority of newsstands. +
Charles also told me about his recent connections with the Chinese government… and how he had been instrumental in recent talks with the Chinese regarding Hong King’s future… about how he was grateful for their support of his business ventures, and how he looked forward to… + helping HK move forward in “collaboration” with China. What can I say? People tell me things. I don’t know why. So, after my visit with Charles, I enjoyed the rest of my stay in HK, did some shopping, had some amazing meals (that’s a whole other story), and rambled on home. + At the time, I knew little about the political environment in Hong Kong… as time went on it became a subject of the news, as China began to crack down on political dissidents & political discourse in Hong Kong, basically taking over what was an independent government. + apnews.com
apnews.com
It was then that I realized that Mr. Ho was intrinsically involved in that transition, and his monopoly on information in that sphere was instrumental in paving the way for the installation of a fascist regime in HK. He had pretty much spelled it out for me. + In fact, Mr. Ho became an important mouthpiece for the government of China in their crackdown on journalists reporting what was actually happening there. Ironic, given that he was a “newsman”. + cjr.org
So… this one man, with his money and influence, was able to have an instrumental role in ushering in a new era of fascism for the people of Hong Kong… all in the name of advancing his own power, influence, and fortune, and to the detriment of freedom. + I hope his mistress is enjoying the sculpture… And I hope we can all recognize the cautionary tale of what can happen when one ultra rich dude controls too much of the information network. Fin. And in regards to me telling tales on Charles Ho… I didn’t sign no fucking NDA. FUCK THAT GUY.