Chief executive condemns ongoing violence and says it would be wrong to give in at this time
Carrie Lam says “violence should not be rationalised or beautified”.Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has reaffirmed her position that she would not meet the protesters’ demands, adding that the ongoing violence sparked by the extradition bill protests would not be tolerated.
“Violence should not be rationalised or beautified,” Lam said earlier today, referring to the clashes between protesters and police that have rocked the city for the past two months. “We will also not fight violence with violence.”
“It is not the question of not responding, it is the question of not accepting those demands.”
Lam was speaking before meeting her advisers in the Executive Council this morning.
She argued that it would be wrong for the government to give in to the demands, in light of the violence and the fact that the government had already claimed “the bill is dead”. The protesters say the government should follow the legal process and fully withdraw the bill.
According to an SCMP report, Lam told a group of young people at a closed-door event organised by Beijing’s Liaison Office yesterday that it was difficult to completely withdraw the bill, but did not give a reason.
This morning, she said the platform the government is attempting to set up to collect youth and opposition views would be open to the public, including those who took part in the protests, but did not say when it would be established.
Asked if the government was considering invoking the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, as some reports had suggested, Lam did not give a straight answer.
The ordinance, if invoked, gives the chief executive the power to “make any regulations whatsoever which he [or she] may consider desirable in the public interest” in times of emergency or public danger.
Such laws could cover a wide range of matters, including censorship, detention and trade.
“All laws in Hong Kong – if they can provide a legal means to stop violence and chaos – the SAR government is responsible for looking into them,” Lam said.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute found that support for Lam as of August 20 had dropped to 17 per cent, while 76 per cent of Hongkongers opposed her. This continues a trend that has seen her lose public backing since early June.