Protests continue as Lam stands firm
Despite wins in local elections, activists say their goals have not yet been met
US President Donald Trump has signed two bills aimed at supporting human rights and pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, police in the Chinese territory are preparing to enter a blockaded university to clean up hazardous material before lifting a 10-day siege.
Trump signed the bills, which were nearly unanimously approved in the House and Senate, even as he expressed some concerns about complicating the effort to work out a trade deal with China’s President Xi Jinping.
“I signed these bills out of respect for President Xi, China, and the people of Hong Kong,” Trump said.“They are being enacted in the hope that leaders and representatives of China and Hong Kong will be able to amicably settle their differences.”
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Police district chief Ho Yun-sing said safety teams of explosive-disposal experts were to move into Polytechnic University to gather evidence and remove stockpiles of dangerous items including petrol bombs and corrosive liquid. Civilian search teams were said to have found no evidence of any protesters holding out, apart from a young woman in a weak condition.
However, a masked protester holding out in Polytechnic University said 20 others were holed up inside and they all opposed a police plan to enter the campus.
The protester, who identified himself as Ah Bong, said the holdouts were hiding as they did not trust the police.
He warned they’ll “definitely protest” if police enter the campus.
The university has been ringed by police for 11 days after protesters retreated into the campus following fierce clashes.
Ho said the police’s “ultimate goal is to restore the safety of the campus and to reopen the campus as soon as possible”.
The university earlier said many laboratories and facilities on the campus had been vandalised, and that some chemicals and dangerous goods were missing.
Hardcore protesters occupied the campus nearly two weeks ago after blocking the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and setting toll booths on fire during clashes with police. About 1100 protesters have left or were arrested by police.
The tunnel, which links Hong Kong Island to the rest of the city, reopened on Wednesday after a two-week closure, to commuters’ relief.
Calls for police to end their siege escalated after the pro-democracy camp won a stunning victory in local elections on Sunday, delivering a stinging rebuke to city leader Carrie Lam’s tough line on the protests, which are in their sixth month.
Lam has offered no concessions, saying only that she would accelerate dialogue and look for ways to address societal grievances.
“Carrie Lam is the goddess of democracy. She has single-handedly motivated and galvanised us to fight for democracy,” an activist, who only gave her name as Tham, said mockingly during a Tuesday night rally at the Tsim Sha Tsui district.
Tham, who works in South Korea, said in an online livestream of the rally by the Apple Daily newspaper that she had returned to Hong Kong to cast her ballot.
Echoing what many protesters feel, she said the election outcome cannot be viewed as a victory, as the demonstrators’ demands — including free elections for the city’s leader and legislature and a probe into alleged police misconduct — have not been
met. “This election doesn’t mean anything because we have not achieved our goals,” she said.
A lull in violence that began days before the elections has continued as protesters in the largely leaderless movement weigh their next step amid Lam’s refusal to compromise.
Small, peaceful rallies have popped up this week.
Lam has said the central Government in Beijing did not blame her for the election setback, in which the prodemocracy bloc won control of 17 out of 18 district councils. She said the wins meant people wanted peace.