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Hong Kong Tycoon Kadoorie Urges Effort to Ease Youth's 'Despair'

Hong Kong Tycoon Kadoorie Urges Effort to Ease Youth's `Despair'

(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Michael Kadoorie urged Hong Kong to unite and work together to relieve the “desperation” and despair” of the city’s youth, joining other local tycoons who have struck a conciliatory tone.

In full-page statements issued in the South China Morning Post and Hong Kong Economic Times, Kadoorie urged an end to violence, a commitment to the rule of law and maintaining peace and order. Kadoorie controls CLP Holdings Ltd., Hong Kong’s biggest electricity producer, and his family recently appeared on a Bloomberg list of Asia’s wealthiest clans, with a fortune worth $18.5 billion.

Hong Kong Tycoon Kadoorie Urges Effort to Ease Youth's 'Despair'

“I have spoken many times of how our young people are Hong Kong’s future,” Kadoorie wrote. “We cannot leave them in desperation or despair. It is the responsibility of us all to rebuild trust in the community and create hope for the younger generation.”

The demonstrations, which started in early June against extradition legislation, have become a wider, sometimes violent movement against what some view as Beijing’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s autonomy. The unrest has put many businesses in the city in a tough spot, with Beijing sending a clear warning that companies failing to toe its line would face consequences.

The chieftains of the city’s richest families have responded with a variety of messages. Some such as Peter Woo -- retired chairman of Wheelock & Co., one of the city’s largest landlords -- have accused radical protesters of provoking police and repeated allegations of “color revolution” tactics. Kadoorie echoed statements by Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont and Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, who urged restraint on both sides. Li, 91, is worth $27.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Kadoorie, like Dhanin, advocated four main goals: stop the violence, uphold the rule of law, restore order and ensure mutual prosperity.

Hong Kong Tycoon Kadoorie Urges Effort to Ease Youth's 'Despair'

Chief Executive Carrie Lam and her backers in Beijing have refused to make any concessions until the turmoil subsides. On Tuesday, Lam said an independent inquiry into the cause of the unrest and the police response was “not suitable” since the city already has an Independent Police Complaints Council -- rejecting a key protester demand favored by 77% of the people, according to a Hong Kong Public Opinion Program poll.

“The Kadoories first arrived in Hong Kong 140 years ago and this city gave us the opportunity to prosper,” Kadoorie wrote. “Now is a time for everybody to unite and be unswerving in our commitment not just to Hong Kong’s special place, but to a peaceful solution to our current crisis for this generation, the next, and beyond.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Blake Schmidt in Hong Kong at bschmidt16@bloomberg.net;Venus Feng in Hong Kong at vfeng7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, ;Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Sam Nagarajan, Karen Leigh

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