August 17, 1987

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BUSINESS

Rich and Powerful

It is Saturday, but for Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing it is just another working day. Dressed in his customary navy blue business suit, he has just taken five associates to the colony’s airport, and he is now on his way to a business meeting.

BUSINESS

From Refugee To Multibillionaire

Chinese refugees streamed into the British Colony of Hong Kong by the thousands in 1940, fleeing the havoc of internal revolution and a three-year-old war with Japan. Among those seeking a chance for a fresh start was the Li family from Chiu Chow in Guangdong province in southern China. By TOM FENNELL7 min

CANADA

A harrowing story

It was a dramatic tale of torture in the Punjab and turmoil on the high seas. Muffled in florid scarves to hide their identities, three Sikh migrants explained last week how they came to Canada on the freighter Amelie on July 12—and why they deserve refugee status.

WORLD

War games in the Gulf

From the sound of anti-aircraft fire along the Iranian shore of the Persian Gulf to the sight of U.S. fighter planes strafing the northern desert coast of Somalia, the preparations for war were evident last week. In a measure aimed at demonstrating American military readiness in the region, U.S. marines and carrier-based jets staged a mock invasion of Somalia near the southern entrance to the Red Sea.

GUEST COLUMN

An award-worthy guest column

In the face of apparent government and public indifference, a particular species of Canadian is facing extinction. And those of us who are members of the Fading Few, just like the veterans of Vimy Ridge, are powerless to prevent the inevitable. By Stuart MacLeod5 min

SPORTS

The centennial of a troubled game

More than 50 million players in 155 countries compete in the sport that Pelé, Brazil’s former soccer superstar, calls “the beautiful game.” Last week in London, England, Pelé’s successor as the game’s most celebrated player, Argentina’s Diego Maradona, helped kick off a yearlong centennial celebration of the English Football League, the world’s oldest and largest professional soccer league. By ASHLEY COLLIE5 min

COLUMN

Birth of a Soviet satellite

Last week, in a small screening room in Toronto, I sat confronted on three different television monitors by the smiling face of the notorious “Red Admiral” of Angola. I had been invited to preview a Canadian documentary, titled Angola, which will be shown to American viewers on PBS television this autumn. By Barbara Amiel5 min

CANADA

Backlash over language

They had gathered inside a small brick Legion Hall in Morrisburg, Ont., a United Empire Loyalist town 60 km west of the Quebec border. Their numbers were small—about 30, most of them elderly—but all of them seemed angry. The focus of their anger: bilingualism. By SHERRI AIKENHEAD5 min

WORLD

New steps to Central American peace

The president of Guatemala said that he feared a “trap,” while Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega Saavedra was clearly skeptical of President Ronald Reagan’s proposals last week for ending the fighting in Nicaragua. Announced just as the leaders of five Central American nations prepared for peace talks of their own in Guatemala City, Reagan’s plan gave rise to suspicion among his opponents both in Latin America and at home.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Defence of a gold mine

For the past five years Toronto-based Dome Mines Ltd., one of Canada’s oldest and most venerable gold producers, has suffered mightily from its connections to Dome Petroleum Ltd., the debt-ridden Calgary oil and gas company. While the share prices of other Canadian gold producers have soared, Dome Mines shares have floundered, in part because the company guaranteed a $225-million Dome Petroleum loan.

August 101987