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Hong Kong’s Leader Refuses to Quit, Says the City is Approaching a ‘Very Dangerous Situation’

Chief Executive Carrie Lam condemned protestors and claimed that they "are going to destroy Hong Kong."
Gavin Butler
Melbourne, AU
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong, China August 5, 2019.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong. Image via Reuters

In her first public appearance in three weeks, Hong Kong’s embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam has refused to resign, condemning the protests and ominously suggesting that they are pushing the city to “the verge of a very dangerous situation”.

“Such disruptions have seriously undermined Hong Kong’s law and order and are pushing our city, the city we all love, and many of us helped to build, to the verge of a very dangerous situation,” she told the press pack in Hong Kong today, according to The Guardian . “As a result of these widespread disruptions and violence, the great majority of Hong Kong people are now in a state of great anxiety, some of them don’t know if they can still take some forms of public transport, while others right now are being blocked from going to work.

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“We all love Hong Kong… This is the time for us to rally together to set aside differences and bring back order and say no to chaos and violence.”

Lam went on to claim that protestors were “bullying” people with opinions that differed to their own, and said that while people may choose to strike they should “respect the rights of others to go to work”. She further suggested that the rallies were destroying the livelihoods of working class people and “breaking their rice bowls”.

“Are we using the lives of seven million people and Hong Kong’s future as leverage?” she asked.

This is the first time Lam has addressed the public since a mob of suspected triads attacked protesters and commuters at a metro station three weeks ago, an incident that prompted accusations of collusion between the government and outlaw gangs. She has spent the interim virtually in hiding.

Today, when asked what she has done to respond to demands from demonstrators, she insisted that the government has already responded and that the government’s independent police complaints council has been looking into the suspected triad attacks. She also took the opportunity to sing the praises of the city’s police force, who she refers to as “Asia’s finest.”

“The police force is safeguarding Hong Kong’s law and order and ensuring Hong Kong’s ongoing safety,” she said. “I’m very sad every time I meet with the commissioner that the force is under extreme pressure… I appeal to the media to have a bit more understanding of the difficulties faced by police during this time.” She also said that from today, police would hold a press conference every day.

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Protestors have demanded an independent investigation into police behaviour, among other things, including Lam’s resignation and the permanent withdrawal of a contentious extradition bill which sparked the protests in the first place. Lam did not say she would meet any of those demands today. “I don’t think at this point in time, resignation will help find a solution,” she said, and suggested that protesters were using the extradition bill as a cover for “ulterior motives” and “to persist with… revolution”.

“Those ulterior motives are going to destroy Hong Kong,” she declared.

“Some people may not agree with our response… but we have considered every factor. What is in front of us is Hong Kong’s stability and future and escalated violence.”

Beyond this, Lam used the press appearance to reiterate much of what has been said before: that the extradition bill, though handled badly, was “well-intentioned”; that she is committed to listening to the public; that protestors need to stop undermining the stability of Hong Kong; and that citizens need to “rally together” against violence.

That violence has been steadily escalating over the past nine weeks, with police starting to use tear gas and fire rubber bullets at the thousand-strong mobs of protestors storming the streets. The extradition bill that triggered the protests would have allowed China to extradite people from Hong Kong to the mainland, had it passed: crystallising a growing fear that Hong Kong, long-viewed as a separate entity from mainland China, is losing its autonomy under Beijing’s encroaching authoritarianism.

Given Lam’s relatively weak response to the demands of pro-democracy demonstrators today, the protests are likely to continue—potentially pushing the region closer to the “very dangerous situation” that Lam warns of. What that situation might look like, exactly, is unclear.

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