Hong Kong Won’t Concede to More Protester Demands, Top Adviser Says
Hong Kong’s government doesn’t see any benefit in conceding to more demands from protesters, Carrie Lam’s top adviser says.
(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong’s government doesn’t see any benefit in conceding to more demands from protesters and the increasingly violent demonstrations are unlikely to stop anytime soon, according to a top adviser to leader Carrie Lam.
Radical demonstrators -- some of whom have lobbed petrol bombs at police and vandalized subway stations in recent weeks -- won’t give up their struggle even if the government meets all of their demands, said Bernard Chan, convener of the city’s Executive Council. While more moderate protesters may be swayed by moves to address social inequality, their die-hard peers are unlikely to give up, he said.
“No one is foolish enough to think that the more violent, more radicalized ones will dissipate anytime soon -- I’m afraid that this might drag on for a while,” Chan said in an interview this week. “They give the impression that it’s the five demands they want, and they’ll walk. Come on, we all know that’s not true. The five demands may be just the outset. The underlying issues are about all the other social issues we’re facing in Hong Kong.”
Chan spoke after another weekend of protests descended into violence, less than two weeks since Lam’s government made its most significant concession to date by announcing it would formally withdraw a controversial bill that kicked off the movement. While that met one of the five demands called for by protesters, it did little to quell the unrest.
The city has been gripped by historic pro-democracy rallies that have stretched into a fourth month. What began as pushback against legislation allowing extraditions to China has shifted into calls for greater democratic freedoms.
Hong Kong authorities said Wednesday that they would cancel a National Day fireworks display scheduled for Oct. 1, the politically-sensitive 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule in China, citing safety concerns. Large crowds are expected to protest in the city on that day, and key organizer the Civil Human Rights Front has said it will apply for a permit to march.
U.S. lawmakers are considering passing legislation that would sanction Chinese officials responsible for abducting or extraditing anyone from Hong Kong to the mainland. It would also seek to safeguard the autonomy that underpins special trading privileges for Hong Kong, which are crucial to its economy.
In addition to the withdrawal of the extradition bill, Hong Kong’s demonstrators have also called for an independent inquiry into the violence, an amnesty for those charged during the unrest, rescinding the categorization of participants as “rioters” and the implementation of full universal suffrage. Tens of thousands marched in the city center over the weekend, some chanting “Five Demands, Not One Less.”
‘No Go’
Chan said amnesty for people charged with crimes was a “no go” as it violated Hong Kong’s rule of law. Launching a formal inquiry would take too long, possibly years, and wouldn’t do anything to solve the immediate crisis, he added.
“It sounds good, it might be a good diversion, but it’s not solving the problem,” Chan said.
Lam’s government is intent on addressing the social inequality they believe is the root cause of the protests, Chan said, despite many protesters insisting their real grievance is Hong Kong’s lack of true democracy. One survey led by the Chinese University of Hong Kong suggested that calls for an independent inquiry also ranked near the top of the protesters’ motivations.
He said he hoped Lam’s efforts to engage in dialogue with residents will help end demonstrations, but added that the movement’s leaderless nature has complicated that process. In a briefing this week, Lam said she will meet with local district councilors on Wednesday evening and begin meetings with citizens next week as part of a formal dialogue process.
However, Chan said many people didn’t want to be seen meeting Lam, whose popularity has plunged as unrest worsens.
“Some people have accused her of hiding. It’s not true. She’s been seeing people every day since June, but funnily enough, many would prefer not to be seen meeting her,” he said. “I guess they’re afraid people might question, ‘Why you? Why are you seeing her? Are you representing us?’”
--With assistance from Natalie Lung.
To contact the reporter on this story: Iain Marlow in Hong Kong at imarlow1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Karen Leigh, Jon Herskovitz
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.