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Hong Kong leader says extradition bill is dead after mass protests

By Donny Kwok and Anne Marie Roantree

 

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks to media over an extradition bill in Hong Kong, China July 9, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

 

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday the extradition bill that sparked the territory's biggest political crisis in decades was dead, admitting that the government's work on the bill had been a "total failure".

 

The bill, which would have allowed people in Hong Kong to be sent to mainland China to face trial, sparked huge and at times violent street protests and plunged the former British colony into turmoil.

 

In mid-June, Lam responded to huge protests by suspending the bill, but on Tuesday she said "there are still lingering doubts about the government's sincerity or worries whether the government will restart the process in the legislative council".

 

"So, I reiterate here, there is no such plan, the bill is dead," she told a news conference.

 

Lam's declaration appeared to be a win for opponents of the bill, but it was not immediately clear if it would be enough to satisfy them.

 

Demonstrators have also called for Lam to resign, for an independent investigation into police actions against protesters, and for the government to abandon the description of a violent protest on June 12 as a riot.

 

Hong Kong was returned to China from Britain in 1997 with the promise of a high degree of autonomy, but in recent years there has been growing concern about the erosion of those freedoms at the hands of Beijing.

 

The crisis over the extradition bill has been the biggest challenge Beijing has faced to its rule in the territory in the 22 years since it re-gained control over Hong Kong.

 

The planned bill triggered outrage across broad sections of Hong Kong society amid concerns it would threaten the much-cherished rule of law that underpins the city's international financial status.

 

Lam's appearance on Tuesday was her first since a rare pre-dawn news conference a week ago after protesters besieged and ransacked the legislative building in the heart of the city.

 

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that allows freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, including the right to protest and an independent judiciary.

 

Lawyers and rights groups say China's justice system is marked by torture, forced confessions and arbitrary detention, claims that Beijing denies.

 

(Additonal reporting by Farah Master; Writing by John Ruwitch; Editing by Michael Perry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-07-09

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[Tug]

I hope that’s true

[ThomasThBKK]

It's not enough, they need to get rid off her completly. She's obviously a trojan horse with only malicous intents.

[expatfromwyoming]

wonder when the tanks will start to roll out!!!!!

[the guest]

It's dead, for now ! I don't believe China will lose face on this one. If this type of behavior carries-on in HK, then I believe China will have no choice but to bring in the army.

[harada]

As if the Chinese give a rats about extradition formalities, they will sort it Saudi style.

[JCauto]

1 hour ago, the guest said:

It's dead, for now ! I don't believe China will lose face on this one. If this type of behavior carries-on in HK, then I believe China will have no choice but to bring in the army.

"No choice but to bring in the army." The words of tyrants and their lickspittle lackeys worldwide (including Thailand, of course). What a fine set of values you must have.

[arithai12]

1 hour ago, JCauto said:

"No choice but to bring in the army." The words of tyrants and their lickspittle lackeys worldwide (including Thailand, of course). What a fine set of values you must have.

I think you are shooting the messenger. China will extradite by what means they choose whoever they decide, as they have done already before (btw, just like the US do). And as for the future of Hong Kong, I think the young generations will have a hard awakening in a couple of decades. If I say this, it doesn't mean that it's my set of values.

[TKDfella]

Give it a while and something else will take its place, probably worse than the extradition bill too

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

"one country, two systems" formula that allows freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, including the right to protest and an independent judiciary.

That's something worth fighting for... Keep Beijing as far away as possible.

[Burma Bill]

On 7/9/2019 at 10:31 AM, Tug said:

I hope that’s true

Yes indeed but I wonder what Xi Jinping has in mind!