It may not be the best way to get your share price up. But the tenfold increase in Digital Next’s stock must have been some consolation for Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong media company’s controlling shareholder.

Pro-democracy supporters bought the stock to signal backing for Lai, following his arrest under the city’s new national security law imposed by Beijing. Bizarre though it may seem for share buying to be used as a political protest, it is somehow appropriate in Hong Kong. Beijing’s critics argue that curbs on political freedom in Hong Kong threaten the freewheeling financial markets that have been a cornerstone of the city’s prosperity.