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The Troublemaker
How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong's Greatest Dissident, and China's Most Feared Critic
Table of Contents
About The Book
Jimmy Lai escaped mainland China when he was twelve years old, at the height of a famine that killed tens of millions. In Hong Kong, he hustled and often slept overnight on a table in a clothing factory where he did odd jobs. At twenty-one, he was running a factory. By his mid-twenties, he owned one and was supplying sweaters and shirts to some of the biggest brands in the United States, from Polo to The Limited. His ideas about retail led him to create Giordano in 1981, and with it “fast fashion.” A restless entrepreneur, as Giordano prepared to go public, he was thinking about a dining concept that would disrupt Hong Kong’s fast-food industry. But then came Tiananmen Square democracy protest and the massacre of 1989.
His reaction to the violence was to enter the media industry to push China toward more freedoms. He started a magazine, Next, to advocate for democracy in Hong Kong. Then, just two years before the city was to return to Chinese control, he founded the Apple Daily newspaper. Its mix of bold graphics, gossip, local news, and opposition to the Chinese Communist Party was an immediate hit. For more than two decades, Lai used Apple and Next as part of a personal push for democracy—in weekly columns, at rallies and marches, and, memorably, sitting in front of a tent during the 2014 Occupy Central movement.
Lai took his activism abroad, traveling frequently to Washington. China reacted with fury in 2019 when he met with Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. A draconian new security law came into effect in Hong Kong in mid-2020, effectively making human rights advocacy and free speech a crime and censorship a fact. Lai was arrested and held without bail before being convicted on trumped-up charges. At the end of 2023, a lengthy national security trial, that could see him jailed for life, alleged “collusion with foreign forces” and printing seditious materials. China’s most famous political prisoner has been held in solitary confinement since December 2020, while his supporters and family continue the fight to have him freed. “A sympathetic and inspiring biography” (The Wall Street Journal) and “a genuinely gripping yarn” (The New York Times), The Troublemaker is his story.
Product Details
- Publisher: Free Press (February 12, 2025)
- Length: 288 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668027691
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Raves and Reviews
"Lai’s journey — from an impoverished childhood in China’s southern Guangdong province during the Chinese civil war era to becoming one of Hong Kong’s richest men — is a genuinely gripping yarn."
– Kevin Peraino, The New York Times
"A sympathetic and inspiring biography. . . . Prison was the only way this irrepressible—no, magnificently stubborn—man could be silenced."
– Tunku Varadarajan, The Wall Street Journal
“The Troublemaker recounts the vertiginous rise and fall of Hong Kong’s most famous tycoon-turned-political prisoner. . . . [Clifford] has written a compelling biography and shows an eye for detail."
– The Economist
"Through conversations with Lai and those who know him best, Clifford portrays a man equal parts mythical and ordinary, who has poured his considerable resources into opposing an oppressive regime—at great personal cost."
– Rishi Iyengar, Foreign Policy
"Fascinating. . . . Clifford skillfully sketches the life of a remarkable man, weaving it through the tragic history of Hong Kong."
– Dan Blumenthal, The Washington Free Beacon
"An extraordinary life story—from rags to riches to political prisoner—sheds light on Hong Kong’s struggle for democracy in this rousing biography. . . . An appealing portrait of a colorful, ebullient figure full of charm and moxie who in prison becomes near-saintly, enduring persecution with patient humility. It’s a spirited profile in defiance."
– Publishers Weekly
"I didn’t know until I read Mark L. Clifford’s gripping new biography, The Troublemaker, is what an innovative publisher Lai was. . . . My profound hope is that he is not only freed but comes to live in the U.S. and buys the Washington Post. I’d be a cub reporter for him in a heartbeat."
– Tina Brown
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- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Troublemaker Hardcover 9781668027691
- Author Photo (jpg): Mark L. Clifford David G. McIntyre, ZUMA Press(0.1 MB)
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