USA TODAY International Edition
Hong Kong apologizes for bill on extradition
That doesn’t calm anger, fear over Beijing control
Hong Kong protesters who packed streets Sunday remained defiant, rejecting a government apology for the handling of an extradition bill that prompted outrage and fears of Beijing’s expanding control over the former British colony.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam “apologized to the people of Hong Kong for this and pledged to adopt a most sincere and humble attitude to accept criticisms and make improvements in serving the public.”
A day earlier, Lam announced her decision to suspend legislation that would allow some suspects to be sent for trial in mainland China, a measure critics saw as a ploy to undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy. Lam made clear she was suspending the bill, not withdrawing it.
Lam’s announcement failed to appease protesters.
Pro-democracy activists said they will press on with a general strike Monday.
“Our demands are simple. Carrie Lam must leave office, the extradition law must be withdrawn, and the police must apologize for using extreme violence against their own people,” bank worker John Chow said as he marched with a group of his friends.
Nearly 2 million protesters participated in Sunday’s march, according to organizers.
The demonstration echoed one a week earlier that brought as many as 1million people out to express their concern over Hong Kong’s relations with mainland China.
Protesters are worried that Hong Kong’s legal autonomy has diminished despite Beijing’s insistence that it is honoring its promise – dubbed “one country, two systems” – that the territory could retain its own social, legal and political system for 50 years after China absorbed Hong Kong in a handover in 1997.
Lam said the extradition legislation was needed to uphold justice and protect Hong Kong from becoming a haven for fugitives.
The proposed bill would allow criminal suspect transfers to include Taiwan, Macau and mainland China. China has been excluded from Hong Kong’s extradition agreements because of concerns over its judicial independence and human rights record.
“There’s always been a sense in Hong Kong that the mainland system would disrupt the Hong Kong system as we know it,” Michael C. Davis, a former professor at the University of Hong Kong, told USA TODAY. “It’s not just autonomy, but it’s the very identity of Hong Kong people. They don’t want to become just another Chinese city. They’re an international city.”
Prosecutions of activists, detentions without trial of five Hong Kong book publishers and the illegal seizure in Hong Kong by mainland agents of at least one businessman are among moves in recent years that have unnerved people in the city of 7 million.
Protesters are concerned with the way police have responded: Officers used tear gas, rubber bullets and other aggressive measures when demonstrators stormed barricades outside the city government’s headquarters. Lam defended how the police dealt with demonstrators in last week’s clashes.
There was one fatality during the protests over the weekend, a man dubbed the Raincoat Martyr, according to the South China Morning Post. He fell to his death Saturday evening after hanging a banner. The man missed a big cushion set up to capture him after clinging for a time to scaffolding outside a shopping mall. He was declared dead at a nearby hospital.
Activists scheduled a general strike Monday despite Lam’s decision to suspend work on the legislation. Some labor unions, teachers associations and other groups planned boycotts of work and classes.
“We encourage all the public to carry on the campaign,” said Bonny Leung, a leader of the pro-democracy group Civil Human Rights Front.