Leader dismisses demands to drop controversial bill
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said Monday that she had no intention of withdrawing contentious legislation that would allow extraditions to mainland China, despite hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating against it the day before.
“We were doing it, and we are still doing it, out of our clear conscience, and our commitment to Hong Kong,” Lam said in her first remarks about the demonstration.
The protest Sunday was one of the largest in Hong Kong’s history, drawing a mass of people who filled the streets for more than a mile in a striking display of defiance against Beijing’s rule over the semiautonomous territory. Residents marched for hours, chanting “No China extradition” and calling for Lam to resign, a backlash that underscored the rising anxiety and frustration many feel at the erosion of liberties in Hong Kong.
Lam sought to distance her government’s proposal from the ruling Communist Party in Beijing that selected her to lead the city’s government. “I have not received any instruction or mandate from Beijing to do this bill,” she said.
The immense public outrage poses one of the city’s biggest challenges to the central government in recent years and presents Lam with a balancing act as she tries to push forward on the proposal that China has endorsed.
Lam, whose popularity ratings have sunk in recent weeks, has become the focal point of rising public anger against the proposal, which could spill over into broader unrest or put her job at risk. But if she weathers the protests and gets the legislation passed, she could improve her chances at being appointed to a second term, something no other Hong Kong chief executive has achieved, analysts said.
“I would say that Carrie Lam’s persistence has a lot to do with prioritizing Beijing’s interest over the local population’s,” said Mathew Wong, a professor of political science at the Education University of Hong Kong. “If she loses Beijing’s trust, her career is over, but if she could ride out the dissatisfaction, she would have achieved something in Beijing’s eyes.”
Despite Lam’s refusal to back down, organizers of the Sunday protest indicated they were not giving up and that they planned to continue demonstrations this week. Residents also have been expressing their resistance by signing petitions and announcing plans to go on strike.
With the pro-Beijing camp holding a firm majority in the legislature, the bill is likely to pass. A vote on the measure is expected June 27.
The legislation would allow extraditions to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong does not have long-term agreements. The government has said it is necessary to prevent Hong Kong from becoming a haven for fugitives. The bill has set off widespread fears that allowing criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China would accelerate Beijing’s growing influence over Hong Kong and leave locals subject to the whims of Chinese authorities.