The China Model Delusion and the West’s Useful Idiots—Former Hong Kong Apple Daily Columnist Simon Lee
American Thought Leaders
The Epoch Times
4.9 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 August 2022
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“Jimmy [Lai] once told me, ‘The fight for freedom is a very lonely pursuit … You have to be prepared to be very lonely.’”
Simon Lee was a successful businessman in Hong Kong and a columnist at Jimmy Lai’s Apple Daily newspaper for over a decade before he was forced to escape Hong Kong.
We discuss Hong Kong’s future and the deadly illusion of “the China model.” From draconian zero-COVID lockdowns to a real estate bubble collapse worse than the 2008 financial crisis, Simon Lee breaks down what he sees hidden between the lines of Beijing’s propaganda messaging.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Jimmy once told me the fight for freedom is a very lonely pursuit. |
| 0:05.5 | He said you have to be prepared to be very lonely. |
| 0:08.6 | Simon Lee was a successful Hong Kong businessman and a columnist at Jimmy Lai's Apple Daily |
| 0:14.0 | newspaper for over a decade before he was forced to escape Hong Kong. |
| 0:18.8 | Do you think they can leave the United States alone? |
| 0:21.6 | No, they cannot. It is in the nature to destroy everything that represents freedom. |
| 0:27.4 | Tonight, Simon Lee breaks down what is hidden between the lines of Beijing's propaganda messaging. |
| 0:33.0 | China has a lot of economic problems internally. |
| 0:35.7 | It is way worse than what we see in 2008 in America. |
| 0:40.8 | From crippling zero-covid policies to a collapsing real estate bubble, |
| 0:45.3 | where's China heading? |
| 0:46.8 | This is American Thought Leaders and I'm Yanyu Kelly. |
| 0:51.7 | Simon Lee, such a pleasure to have you on American Thought Leaders. |
| 0:54.8 | It's my honor. |
| 0:56.3 | Simon, you're from Hong Kong. |
| 0:59.5 | You worked for Apple Daily. |
| 1:01.4 | What are your thoughts right now about what's happening in Hong Kong? |
| 1:06.8 | Wow. Long story short, I think for a very long time, |
| 1:12.1 | everyone says Hong Kong is the most free place on earth. |
| 1:16.5 | And we never ponder the question why Hong Kong is the most free place in the universe. |
| 1:25.8 | And I've been thinking that Hong Kong, the freedom is actually very fragile. |
| 1:33.8 | It was under a very unlikely circumstances that made Hong Kong |
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