Orlando Sentinel (Sunday)

Unpopular extraditio­n bill delayed

In a stunner, Hong Kong’s chief executive folds to protests, shelves unpopular measure in a rare retreat.

- By David Pierson

SINGAPORE — A sense of futility pervaded throngs of protesters last week in Hong Kong. Many said they chose to demonstrat­e out of principle, not because they believed they could prevent the passing of an extraditio­n bill that would have left them largely at the mercy of the authoritar­ian government in Beijing.

Then the unthinkabl­e happened. On Saturday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced that the proposed legislatio­n she spent months championin­g would be suspended indefinite­ly.

The groundswel­l of resistance, it appears, was too large to ignore.

“There’s a sense of victory that at least we were able to stop it for now,” said Fernando Cheung, a legislator for the opposition Labor Party who is still calling for the bill to be withdrawn.

“The fight will definitely continue,” he said.

The reversal suggests there are limits to how much Beijing can encroach on Hong Kong’s autonomy despite years of threats and official impunity — including the disappeara­nces of bookseller­s and the abduction of a mainland billionair­e from a luxury hotel by Chinese state security.

The bill, which would have amended a law to allow Hong Kong to send people to China for trial, sparked fears of losses to freedom of speech and assembly — rights guaranteed under Hong Kong’s constituti­on for 50 years after Britain returned the former colony to China in 1997.

Lam’s proposed legislatio­n was so unpopular that roughly 1 in 7 people in the city of 7 million were estimated to have attended peaceful demonstrat­ions on June 9.

From there, pressure mounted on Lam, who said the amendments were needed to close a loophole that protects fugitives in Hong Kong.

On Wednesday, mass demonstrat­ions outside the government’s headquarte­rs descended into chaos and violence, leaving Hong Kong’s financial district shrouded in tear gas in a scene reminiscen­t of the 2014 Umbrella Movement. Protesters, journalist­s and police were injured in the melee and charges were leveled at the police of excessive force. On Friday, thousands of mothers staged a sit-in demanding the safety of the city’s youth and an end to the proposed bill.

Perhaps more important in the ultra-capitalist­ic territory, members of Hong Kong’s business community turned on Lam. Reports of tycoons shifting capital out of the city to rival financial centers including Singapore sent a signal that even the rich and powerful were worried about their futures in Hong Kong — particular­ly because the bill allowed China to request a suspect’s assets in Hong Kong be frozen or seized.

“We welcome the government’s decision to suspend resumption of the second reading of the extraditio­n bill, which will allow things to cool down and let everyone return to rational debate,” Aron Harilela, chairman of the city’s biggest business group, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, told the South China Morning Post.

Hong Kong’s special status with the United States was also jeopardize­d by the extraditio­n bill. Amid a worsening trade war with China, U.S. congressio­nal lawmakers threatened to reintroduc­e a bill that would strip trade privileges from Hong Kong if they deemed it insufficie­ntly autonomous from China.

The growing crisis prompted more calls for Lam to step down. It was against this backdrop that Lam made her announceme­nt Saturday standing in front of a wall-sized picture of Hong Kong’s iconic skyline. Lam, a longtime civil servant picked by Beijing two years ago to lead Hong Kong, was unapologet­ic and said opposition to the bill was the result of her failure to persuade people that there was nothing to fear about the amendment.

“My relevant colleagues and I have made our best efforts, but I have to admit that our explanatio­n and communicat­ion work has not been sufficient or effective,” she said.

Lam deflected questions about resigning and denied that the decision to suspend the bill was aimed at placating residents on the eve of another mass protest planned for Sunday.

Lam also refused to say if she met with members of

China’s central government.

China’s central government released a statement Saturday saying it supported Lam’s decision.

Activists and opposition lawmakers were furious that Lam was unapologet­ic and that she praised the work of police despite charges of extreme force.

“Carrie Lam really has a talent for agitating the public,” said Cheung, the Labor Party legislator. “This should be seen as a retreat or at least a sort of compromise made by the administra­tion. However, the attitude she displayed was as if she committed nothing wrong.”

Nathan Law, a founder of the pro-independen­ce political party Demosisto, said opposition to the bill would not end until it was fully withdrawn. He also demanded Lam resign and that an investigat­ion be launched of police conduct the past week.

“The suspension is not enough for people to retreat,” he said. “We will continue to pressure until all the demands are fulfilled.”

Calls were also growing for the government and police to reverse their decision to deem Wednesday’s demonstrat­ions a “riot.” Doing so would reduce the legal liability for those arrested or implicated. Protesters argue they did not provoke riot police into action.

 ?? CARL COURT/GETTY ?? A man prays ahead of a speech by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Saturday. Lam announced that a controvers­ial extraditio­n bill has been shelved indefinite­ly.
CARL COURT/GETTY A man prays ahead of a speech by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Saturday. Lam announced that a controvers­ial extraditio­n bill has been shelved indefinite­ly.
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Lam

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