China’s favourite HK tycoon dies
Henry Fok, the Chinese Communist party’s favourite Hong Kong tycoon, died of cancer at the weekend while in Beijing. He was 83.
Unique among his peers, Mr Fok largely kept his distance from Britain’s colonial administration as he built his fortune in the 1950s and 60s. He is also unusual in never having received an honour from the Queen, as so many of his fellow Hong Kong tycoons did.
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This was believed to be partly due to Mr Fok’s activities during the Korean war, when he actively traded goods with China despite a United Nations embargo imposed on the country. The tycoon, however, denied persistent rumours that his trading activities at the time extended to guns and gold.
Mr Fok’s willingness to run the UN embargo and his coolness with Hong Kong’s former colonial masters endeared him to the Chinese government, which took the unusual step of promoting the billionaire capitalist to a position of influence.
While most of China’s supporters in the territory make do with ceremonial appointments to the advisory Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress
