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Hong Kong leader calls for dialogue after protesters reject concession
HONG KONG, Sept 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Hong Kong’s leader on Thursday urged
pro-democracy protesters to end their demonstrations after her surprise
decision to bow to one of their key demands was condemned as too little, too
late.
Carrie Lam, the city’s pro-Beijing chief executive, surprised many on
Wednesday when after three months of rallies she suddenly announced she was
scrapping a hugely unpopular proposed extradition law.
Millions of people have taken to Hong Kong’s streets since June in the
biggest challenge to China’s rule of semi-autonomous Hong Kong since its
handover from the British in 1997.
The protests were sparked by a bill allowing extraditions to the
authoritarian mainland but as Beijing and Lam refused to budge, the movement
morphed into a broader campaign calling for democratic reforms and police
accountability.
On Wednesday evening, Lam released a video message saying she was scrapping
the bill entirely, a key demand of protesters.
At a press conference on Thursday, Lam continued her newfound conciliatory
tone, saying her decision to fully withdraw the bill was an attempt “to help
prevent violence and stop chaos as soon as possible, resume the social order
and help our economy and people’s livelihood to move forward”.
“It is obvious to many of us that the discontentment in society extends far
beyond the bill,” Lam added, saying she recognised that anger over inequality
and the government had spiralled and needed to be solved.
She renewed her appeal for protesters to enter into a dialogue with her
administration and called on moderate protesters to abandon their more
militant allies who have frequently clashed with riot police over the last 14
weeks.
But there is little sign her belated concession will end protests or heal
divisions in the international financial hub.
– ‘Concrete institutional reform’ –
Hong Kong’s protests are leaderless and organised through social media,
encompassing a vast swathe of the city, from moderates to more radical
groups.
Since Lam’s announcement on Wednesday, there has been uniform condemnation
across the protest spectrum with activists vowing to keep up their campaign.
At a “citizens press conference” Wednesday evening — a useful gauge of
the youth-led wing on the frontlines at rallies — an unidentified woman
wearing a mask and helmet rejected the concession.
“If Carrie Lam had withdrawn the bill two months ago, that may have been a
quick fix,” she said. “But applying a band-aid months later on to rotting
flesh will simply not cut it.”
Online forums used by protesters have filled with calls for new rallies —
including plans on Saturday to disrupt transport links to the city’s airport,
a major regional aviation hub.
More moderate pan-democrat lawmakers have also rejected the concession and
even some pro-establishment figures within Lam’s camp have said the bill
withdrawal will not do enough to curb public anger.
Beyond calls to scrap the extradition bill, protesters had four core
demands: an inquiry into police conduct, an amnesty for anyone arrested, a
retraction of the label “rioters” to describe protesters and universal
suffrage — the last a major red line for Beijing.
So far Lam has consistently rejected those four demands, even though many
say backing an independent inquiry could peel some moderate protesters away
from the movement.
“There will be no genuine reconciliation in absence of concrete
institutional reform,” Brian Leung, a protester who famously unmasked himself
during a siege on Hong Kong’s parliament and has since fled overseas, wrote
on Twitter.
“That’s why protestors have long insisted on an independent investigation
of police brutality, and, most importantly, the long overdue democratic
reform.”
The timing of Lam’s bill withdrawal was a surprise but it came after
leaked audio recordings emerged of her suggesting her options were limited
because Beijing viewed the protests as a direct threat to China’s sovereignty
and national security.
China has increasingly portrayed the protests as a foreign-backed “colour
revolution” and described radical demonstrators as “terrorists” and
“separatists”.
Speaking Thursday, Lam insisted her decision to withdraw the bill was hers
alone and that she received no direction from the mainland — although she
said Beijing supported the move.
BSS/AFP/RY/1558 HRS