Hong Kong leader delays extradition bill indefinitely amid protest pressure
Carrie Lam says legislation that would allow suspects to be sent to mainland China had ‘caused a lot of division’
Emma Graham-Harrison and
Verna Yu in Hong Kong
Sat 15 Jun 2019 03.27 EDT
Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam has suspended indefinitely government efforts to pass a
controversial new extradition law, after a week of mass protests and street violence put heavy pressure on the city’s leaders.
At a press conference on Saturday, after three days of silence, Lam said she had “done her utmost” but admitted that the bill had “caused a lot of division” in society. The legislative process would be halted without any deadline, she said, to allow time for consultation across Hong Kong society.
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Another mass demonstration had been called for Sunday, and the government appears to be trying to stave off further major humiliation – and a possible escalation in opposition – by abandoning the law a day earlier.
“[Lam] is buying time for herself and her pro-Beijing pals,” said Kenneth Chan, a professor in the department of government at
Hong Kong Baptist University.
Reports suggest she plans only to delay the law, rather than shelve it entirely, probably in the hope that time and further consultations will defuse the power of opposition. With the legislature due to go on summer recess in July, it would not be picked up again until autumn at the earliest.
People attend a Hong Kong rally in support of demonstrators protesting against proposed extradition bill with China.Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters
“The plan aims to reduce turnout at the protest, so the government can wait for a more propitious moment to try again, perhaps after local elections in November, when students will be back at school,” Chan added.
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