My Take | Hong Kong fugitive Simon Cheng linked to anti-China NGO in Britain
New report by UK-China Transparency attacks top China think tank and key donor from Hong Kong
Oh dear, the son of a fugitive Chinese tycoon turned out to be the sole donor of millions of pounds to a China-focused think tank at one of Britain’s top universities. That’s the Lau China Institute at King’s College London.
It just fits so well with a wider narrative that the Communist Party of China, especially through its United Front work, has infiltrated higher education in the UK. I have to admit I was hooked at first sight.
And then, the name was finally revealed.
“99.9% of the Institute’s funding comes from a single donor from Hong Kong in the People’s Republic of China, Mr Lau Ming-wai. Lau has given at least £11 million [HK$113 million],” according to a new report by UK-China Transparency, a non-profit group. Lau was subsequently made a fellow of King’s College. Money can buy you any academic title, can’t it now?
I don’t know Lau personally, but have interviewed him several times over the course of my career as a reporter and met him again in social settings. So I have had to dig up his CV on various occasions in the past.
He is not dodgy at all. In fact, I have always been amazed at how well he turned out as a person, considering who his father is. Think of many others who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, like Prince Harry.
