I think knowledge does not determine experience; I think experience determines knowledge. Because I had the experience of Hong Kong being a free market, that’s why I could understand Hayek to such an extent.”
This is what my father, Jimmy Lai, said on the 6th of January 2025 when he was asked, on the stand, whether it was his admiration for Hayek that led to his belief in the free market. In his characteristic humor, he noted the misspelling of “Hayek” in the evidence used to prosecute him. “H-A-Y-E-K” he articulated before being assured that the error had been corrected. His experience of Hong Kong, the place my father found, then lost, freedom, he said, is what led to him understanding Hayek and spending 15 years studying his works.
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