Richard Lloyd Parry

Deal to free Jimmy Lai ‘could mean halting criticism of Beijing’ Britain believes China does not want the Hong Kong democracy leader, who was given a 20-year sentence on Monday, to die as a martyr in prison

Britain believes that China would negotiate the release of the imprisoned Hong Kong newspaper owner, Jimmy Lai - but only if he agrees to be silent.

Exclusive in The Times by Richard Spencer and me.

www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...

Friend of Monocle Richard Lloyd Parry (@dicklp.bsky.social) is this week’s guest on #MeetTheWriters with @georginagodwin.bsky.social on monocle.com

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...

Ageing, anxious Japanese make Kurdish immigrants the new enemy The ‘foreigner problem’ is a lightning rod for rightwingers as national elections loom — and threatens to turn trivial concerns about noise and bins into violence

Arbitrariness of choosing Kurds as a target & triviality of many of the complaints against them suggests that ill-feeling towards foreigners is a proxy for deeper & more complex insecurities about a future of economic & military insecurity
(£) www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...
By @dicklp.bsky.social

Prime minister’s ‘a winner’, but can she save Japan? Sanae Takaichi is change personified but she’s up against China, an ageing populace and geography

Uncomfortable truth for all Japanese leaders: within narrow circle of policy, freedom of action is tightly constrained by stark geopolitical facts. Biggest problems are structural, functions of geography and demography, and they are grave.
(£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
By @dicklp.bsky.social

Mishcon de Reya handled property deal for ‘romance scam billionaire’

🔺EXCLUSIVE: Mishcon de Reya, the London law firm that was once solicitor for Princess Diana, handled a multimillion-pound property purchase for the man subsequently accused of heading up the world’s most successful organised crime group