Media-Shy Tencent Billionaire Joins Debate on Hong Kong's Future
- Tencent’s Pony Ma plugs vision for China’s Silicon Valley
- Conference held ahead of handover’s 20th anniversary
Ma ''Pony'' Huateng.
Photographer: Jerome Favre/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
One of China’s most prominent internet tycoons is wading into a famously contentious political arena.
In an unusual move, Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s billionaire founder Pony Ma has chosen to convene a summit of government officials and business chieftains in Hong Kong days before the 20th anniversary of its return to China. The head of the country’s biggest corporation wants to fire up a debate about an issue that’s fomented protests and fears about Beijing’s agenda: how to entwine the self-run former British colony with the mainland.