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Hong Kong Leader, Carrie Lam, Says Extradition Bill Is ‘Dead’ Hong Kong Leader, Carrie Lam, Says Extradition Bill Is ‘Dead’
(about 4 hours later)
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s embattled leader urged the public on Tuesday to give her administration a chance to repair the damage caused by an unpopular extradition bill as she sought to assuage anger that has driven several huge protests and the storming of the city’s legislature in the past month. HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, made her most emphatic promise yet on Tuesday that a contentious extradition bill would not be revived, but she stopped short of offering further concessions to protesters, who rejected the gesture and set the stage for more demonstrations.
Carrie Lam, the city’s top official, told reporters that she was aware that despite the government’s earlier suspension of the contentious legislation that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, protesters were still concerned the government would revive efforts to pass the bill. Mrs. Lam, who said the bill was “dead,” pledged to lead a government that would do a better job of listening to the public. But her refusal to give in to the protesters’ latest demands showed she was betting on being able to ride out the demonstrations that have thrown the city into a political crisis, lawmakers and observers in Hong Kong said.
“There are still lingering doubts about the government’s sincerity or worries whether the government will restart the process in the Legislative Council,” Ms. Lam said. “There is no such plan. The bill is dead.” Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent weeks, including in a march on Sunday, to oppose the bill, which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. Tensions erupted last week when a relatively small group of protesters stormed and vandalized the city’s legislature.
The protesters, including tens of thousands of people who marched on Sunday, have repeatedly called on Mrs. Lam to fully withdraw the bill. But she has refused to do so and there appeared to be no change in her position on Tuesday, though she asserted that there was “no difference” between declaring it dead and withdrawing it. Mrs. Lam said she was aware that despite her earlier suspension of the bill, protesters were concerned that the government would revive it later. “There is no such plan,” she told reporters. “The bill is dead.”
But Mrs. Lam’s remarks on Tuesday did not satisfy the protesters who have zeroed in on her unwillingness to withdraw the bill as evidence that she continues to underestimate the level of public distrust her administration faces. Mrs. Lam’s latest remarks did not satisfy the protesters, who have zeroed in on her unwillingness to formally withdraw the bill as evidence that she still underestimates the level of public distrust her administration faces.
“Saying the bill is dead is not as good as withdrawing the bill completely,” said Figo Chan, one of the leaders of Civil Human Rights Front, a coalition of pro-democracy activists that organized several recent marches. “We urge the chief executive not to use words to deceive the people of Hong Kong any longer.” “Saying the bill is dead is not as good as withdrawing the bill completely,” said Figo Chan, one of the leaders of Civil Human Rights Front, a coalition of pro-democracy activists that organized several recent marches. (Mrs. Lam argued that there was “no difference” between the two concepts.)
Public anger over the extradition bill has thrown Hong Kong into the territory’s worst political crisis in years, sending hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets in marches that have been largely peaceful but have sometimes resulted in clashes. “We urge the chief executive not to use words to deceive the people of Hong Kong any longer,” Mr. Chan said.
On July 1, the anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese control from Britain, a small group of young protesters, many of whom were students, stormed the city’s legislature, smashing glass walls and spray-painting political slogans calling for Mrs. Lam’s resignation and for universal suffrage. Mrs. Lam admitted that the government’s handling of the bill had been a “complete failure” and pledged to improve the government’s engagement with youth, who have been a major force in the protests. But she rejected calls to set up an independent inquiry into the police’s use of violence against protesters during clashes on June 12, as well as other demands.
The forceful occupation of the legislative office building was a stark rebuke of Mrs. Lam’s administration as well as what many protesters consider the failure of the political system to adequately represent the interests of Hong Kong over those of Beijing. In recent days, the protesters have increasingly expanded their demands to include the right to direct elections of the city’s leadership. Calls for the government to set up an independent commission for such a purpose intensified on Tuesday after Andrew Li, a former chief justice of Hong Kong, wrote an op-ed in support of the idea.
Mrs. Lam acknowledged that the public’s grievances stemmed from her government’s earlier efforts to push through the bill despite a large public outcry. But Mrs. Lam unexpectedly acknowledged that broader, fundamental issues lay beneath the demonstrations, issues that emerged during a failed protest movement in 2014 that sought fully democratic elections for the city’s leader.
“We didn’t predict its political sensitivity, and we haven’t done enough, causing this big storm,” she said. “We express our sincere apology.” The protesters’ forceful occupation of the legislature on July 1 was a stark rebuke of Mrs. Lam’s administration, and of what many protesters consider the political system’s failure to prioritize Hong Kong’s interests over those of the Chinese government. In recent days, the protesters have expanded their demands to include the right to directly elect the city’s leadership, as well as other political reforms.
Mrs. Lam rejected calls to set up an independent inquiry into the recent clashes between protesters and the police and refused to back down from the government’s previous condemnation of some protesters as “rioters.” While Mrs. Lam pointed mainly to economic issues in her remarks on Tuesday, Ronny Tong, a lawyer and a member of the territory’s Executive Council, or cabinet, said in an interview that he believed “she does understand that one of the core areas of divide within the community is about political reform.”
She also appeared to dismiss the protesters’ calls for her resignation, but pledged to lead a government that would do better at listening to the needs of the broader public. She said that over the past several weeks, the government had approached people from different sectors of society to gather their views and that she would improve the way that the government engages with the territory’s young people, who have been a major force in the protests. Concerns have grown in Hong Kong about Beijing’s interference in the territory’s political system, which has resulted in a number of major setbacks for the pro-democracy camp. Six elected lawmakers were removed from office and several others were disqualified from running in local elections.
“I still have the passion and the sense of duty to serve for the Hong Kong people,” she said. “I hope society will give me and my team the opportunity and the space to use the new governance style to respond to the people’s economic and livelihood demands.” Joshua Wong, a key figure from the 2014 movement, and Eddie Chu, a pro-democracy lawmaker, staged a small demonstration on Tuesday to raise concerns about the possible disqualification of pro-democracy candidates in district elections set for November.
While Mrs. Lam’s comments were her strongest attempt yet to reassure the people that the government would not revive the bill, experts said the effort was unlikely to quell widespread anger. The argument over whether the bill has been withdrawn or suspended has become a proxy for a larger debate over Beijing’s influence within Hong Kong’s political system. While Mrs. Lam’s comments were her strongest attempt yet to reassure the public that the government had learned its lesson from the bungling of the extradition bill, experts said the effort was unlikely to quell widespread anger. For some, the argument over the formal status of the bill has become a proxy for a larger debate over Beijing’s influence within Hong Kong’s political system.
“The protesters are adamant on full withdrawal because, according to them, she cannot say the word because she is a stooge of Beijing,” said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Center for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “They want to humiliate her.”“The protesters are adamant on full withdrawal because, according to them, she cannot say the word because she is a stooge of Beijing,” said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Center for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “They want to humiliate her.”
On Monday, Denise Ho, a pop star and prominent democracy activist in Hong Kong who has supported the protests, urged the United Nations’ Human Rights Council to help protect the Chinese territory’s semiautonomous status. Beijing has struck a hard line against the protesters who stormed the legislature, calling them “extreme radicals” and urging the Hong Kong authorities to restore public order and prosecute those responsible for the tumult.
Ms. Ho, who spoke to the council in Geneva, asked members to hold an urgent debate “to protect the people of Hong Kong” and to remove China as a member of the council. Dai Demao, a first secretary in China’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva, twice interrupted Ms. Ho’s two-minute speech, denouncing her comments as slander and violating Chinese sovereignty. The movement has become an occasional irritant for China on the global stage. On Monday, Denise Ho, a pop star and prominent democracy activist in Hong Kong who has supported the protests, urged the United Nations’ Human Rights Council to expel China from the body. A Chinese diplomat twice interrupted Ms. Ho’s two-minute speech in Geneva, denouncing her comments as slander and violations of Chinese sovereignty.
Mrs. Lam has come under even greater pressure from the Chinese government after the charging of the legislature on July 1. Beijing has struck a hard line against those protesters, calling them “extreme radicals” and urging the authorities in Hong Kong to restore public order and pursue those criminally responsible for the unrest. The Chinese Foreign Ministry’s office in Hong Kong on Tuesday also criticized Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for meeting in Washington with Jimmy Lai, the publisher of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper. It said Beijing would not tolerate any collusion between forces inside and outside China to destabilize the Chinese territory.
Mr. Lam, the analyst, said the occupation of the legislature, seen as an act of bold defiance against Beijing, made it even more unlikely that the central government under Xi Jinping, an increasingly authoritarian leader, would make any more concessions. “It is evidently out of ulterior motives that U.S. senior officials have lined up to meet someone like Lai when the situation in Hong Kong remains delicate,” the office said in a statement.
“Xi Jinping is the chairman of everything,” Mr. Lam said. “He won’t be making any further concessions because this debacle has already been used by his enemies in the party to attack him.” Demonstrations are likely to continue, and turnout may even surge over Mrs. Lam’s refusal to withdraw the bill. Organizers said several protests were planned for coming weekends, including one in the Sha Tin district in Hong Kong’s New Territories region on Sunday.
But Mrs. Lam and her advisers appeared confident that the protesters’ momentum would taper off over time.
Regina Ip, a pro-Beijing lawmaker and a member of the cabinet, praised Mrs. Lam on Tuesday, saying she was glad that the leader was “slowly recovering and coming out of her bunker and responding to public grievances.”
Ms. Ip predicted that pro-democracy politicians would continue supporting the demonstrations as late as the election period in November.
“I think Hong Kong will remain unsettled for a while,” Ms. Ip said in an interview. “The polls will provide some kind of safety valve to vent their dissatisfaction.”
Still, Mrs. Lam was likely to face growing pressure — both from Beijing, pressing her to assert the government’s authority over the territory, and from pro-democracy lawmakers and protesters calling for her to step down. The police have made a number of arrests since protests started about a month ago, and they have vowed to bring those who stormed the legislature to justice swiftly. No senior officials have yet had to step down over the crisis.
But there is no doubt that Mrs. Lam’s administration will face more serious repercussions at a later stage, Michael Tien, a pro-establishment lawmaker, said in an interview.
“I am very sure that before her term is up three years from now, some heads will roll,” he said.