[News]Remarkable rally by Li

Wai

Remarkable rally by Li

(STANDARD) 24/ 08  Fri. 05:30AM

Li Ka-shing was forced to play diplomat following a faux pas when he met the press yesterday.

But members of the media, including Offline, were surprised to see Li go out of his way to placate a reporter three times in the course of the one-hour conference following a dismissive comment he had made earlier to her.

Asked if he supports universal suffrage like his son Richard Li Tzar-kai, Li replied, "Well ... you should go ask Richard. You are so silly."

Quickly moving into damage-control mode, he said, "I did not really mean it. It was simply a joke."

After his son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi had fielded another question, Li stressed again, "Miss, you should know that I was just joking a moment ago, right?"

And he ended by saying: "Thanks for coming, everybody. Miss, please note that I was only joking just now."

What was the reason for Li's tact? Offline found a clue in one of Li's other comments yesterday: "Based on just one sentence I said, you guys can write a paragraph."

Refer to http://hk.news.yahoo.com/070823/318/2e9mm.html