Lam pledges dialogue to end protests in Hong Kong
The leader of Hong Kong is setting up a “communication platform” to resolve differences in the city after months of anti-government protests.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam also said yesterday that a study would look at the causes of the demonstrations and the police response.
There was a huge but peaceful rally on Sunday after previous protests descended into violence.
Ms Lam and other officials said a dialogue was conditional on the protest movement remaining peaceful.
Her comments fell short of the demonstrators’ demands, which include her resignation and an independent inquiry into allegations of police brutality.
Yesterday, three Singapore universities said they had cancelled exchange programmes to Hong Kong, warning its citizens to defer travel to the territory amid pro-democracy demonstrations, news website Today reported.
The protests in Hong Kong began in June as opposition to a now suspended bill that would allow suspects to be extradited to mainland China for trial in Communist Party-controlled courts.
They have since swelled into wider calls for democracy and have become increasingly violent, scaring off tourists, eroding business confidence and putting the territory on the verge of its first recession in a decade.
Meanwhile the UK foreign office said it was “extremely concerned” by reports that a Hong Kong consulate worker had been detained on a recent trip to mainland China.
Simon Cheng, 28, failed to return from a business trip on August 8 in the city of Shenzhen.
Yesterday, the foreign office said it was providing the man’s family with support and seeking information from authorities in Hong Kong and Guangdong province.
The incident comes at a sensitive time for the UK and China, which has accused the British government of meddling in its former colony by defending the rights of violent demonstrators.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab spoke with Ms Lam a day after Mr Cheng’s disappearance to discuss “concerns about the situation in the city and the protests there”, the foreign office said.