Recorded on October 20, 2019.
In this special edition of Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson, recorded in front of a live audience at the Hoover Institution, Peter interviews Jimmy Lai, an entrepreneur and a leader in the fight to preserve democracy in Hong Kong. Lai describes the struggles he has endured, including having his home fire-bombed, his family harassed, and his business threatened by the Chinese Communist Party. They also discuss the Trump administration's response to the Hong Kong protest movement, how the NBA and other American businesses are finding themselves in an awkward position navigating between their business interests and their politics, and what Lai believes to be China’s ultimate goal: to make Hong Kong just another city in Communist China. Finally, Lai asks Americans to keep Hong Kong at the forefront of their thoughts and not to give up on its citizens.
To view the transcript of this conversation, click here.
Jimmy Lai
Articles
Writing in this magazine a year ago, we compared Russia’s oil-and-gas industry to a dinosaur, “big, rapacious, and dying off.” Energy sanctions against Russia and the country’s own missteps in managing its energy industry during its war against Ukraine were delivering a downfall that, we wrote, “the U.S. has been trying to make…happen for decades.”
October 27, 2026
Articles
An international court has filed charges against the men who run Afghanistan’s schools. Two women deprived of an education suggest what that is worth.
October 23, 2026
Articles
The 2025 National Security Strategy has ignited debates about several distinctive assertions, especially the choice of giving priority to the Western Hemisphere, thereby correcting the insufficient attention Washington has long paid to Latin America. In addition, the document may indicate a softening of the perception of China, and it repeats the appeal to European allies to do more for their own defense. Of particular note, furthermore, is the identification of culture as a dimension of security.
October 23, 2026