Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has agreed to withdraw the contentious extradition bill that spurred over three months of violent protest in the city.
Lam said in a video broadcast that the bill has been withdrawn, citing citizen’s concern over the bill. She stopped short of setting up an independent inquiry into allegations of police brutality.
The South China Morning Post and Wall Street Journal first reported Wednesday that the formal withdrawal of the bill was imminent.
Her announcement comes after a meeting with pro-Beijing allies and cabinet members on Wednesday afternoon.
Complete withdrawal of the controversial bill was one of the main demands echoed by protesters, along with calls for her resignation and an independent investigation into allegations of police brutality.
“This gesture to formally withdraw is a bid to cool down the atmosphere,” a source told the Post.
Lam attempted to appease protesters in July by saying that the bill would not pass, while also not formally withdrawing it.
She said the bill was “dead” and adding that attempts to amend it had been a “total failure.”
The bill, which would allow extradition of Hong Kong residents to mainland China, sparked weeks of massive protests. It was set to be debated June 12, but that was postponed hours later after protesters blocked roads leading to the government building.
Lam told a group of business leaders in the city that she would quit if she had a choice, according to leaked recordings her remarks obtained by Reuters.
She made the comments at a closed-door meeting last week and said she had wreaked “unforgivable havoc” on the semiautonomous Chinese territory by putting forth the bill.
Stocks surge in anticipation of the announcement
Hong Kong’s stocks rallied in anticipation of the announcement.
According to Markets Insider, Hang Seng closed up 3.8% as luxury and real estate stocks saw a jump following reports of the news. The Hang Seng has taken a beating in recent months due to instability in the city, falling by more than 10% since the start of the protests.
Luxury real estate stocks benefitted from the withdrawal of the bill, as the New World Development Company rose 11.1% and Wharf Real Estate Investment Company jumped 11.5%, as the top 30 major components rallied.
Some are skeptical that the move will be enough to calm protests
Some have voiced skepticism that the withdrawal of the bill will be enough to calm violent protests.
Joshua Wong, secretary-general of pro-democracy group Demosisto, and a prominent figure in the protest movement, wrote in a Twitter thread that the anticipated move was “too little and too late now.”
“Carrie Lam’s response comes after 7 lives sacrificed, more than 1,200 protesters arrested, in which many are mistreated in police station,” he wrote.
He said the police response to the protests has left an “irreversible scar” on Hong Kong society, and that people do not believe that the move by Lam is “sincere.”
“[Hong Kong] people are well-aware of her notorious track record,” he wrote. “Whenever there are signs of sending a palm branch, they always come with a far tighter grip on exercising civil rights.”
“We urge the world too to [sic] alert this tactic and not to be deceived by [the Hong Kong] and Beijing Govt. They have conceded nothing in fact, and a full-scale clampdown is on the way.”
This is a developing story.
