This archive report was first published on 23 August 2019.
Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong businessman, has been a vocal critic of China's government, a stance that sets him apart from the city's mostly youthful protesters.
Despite describing Chinese President Xi Jinping as 'my good friend,' Lai sees Trump as the first US leader to see China clearly since President Nixon's visit in 1972.
On June 4, Lai participates in a candlelight vigil to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, an event that most Hong Kong student groups avoid.
Born in Canton, the capital of Guangdong, Lai fled to Hong Kong as a boy and rose to become the main owner of Giordano, a successful clothing store chain.
However, the 1989 Tiananmen bloodshed made him start thinking about politics and led to the creation of Next Magazine, which he founded the following year.
"I had always hoped that China was changing and would become a democracy. I was wrong. It was wishful thinking," Lai said.
