After months of protests, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam withdraws controversial extradition bill The decision to cave in to one of protesters' five core demands marked a dramatic U-turn for Lam, who for months has refused to withdraw the bill. ....... Pro-Beijing lawmaker Michael Tien said that Lam's withdrawal may not stem their anger. "I believe the withdrawal of the bill ... may be too late because this movement has become more than the bill," he said........ Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Lam said she had not "contemplated to discuss a resignation" with her mainland superiors. ...... Many will be asking why it took three months of unprecedented unrest, violence and damage to the city's economy for the government to upgrade the bill from "suspended" to "withdrawn," despite repeatedly insisting that it had no future and would not be reintroduced. ....... Lam may be hoping that the move will put a lid on the protests ahead of October 1, when China will celebrate National Day and mark 70 years of the People's Republic. ...... "The nature of the protest movement has transformed over the last 13 weeks," said Adam Ni, a China researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney. "She will have to take further steps, such as setting up an independent inquiry into police conduct. If she does not take further steps, then we can expect the protests to continue."
She should have taken this step within a week of the protests starting, at most. But three months!? By now the key demand is universal suffrage. And there she has no authority to accept the demand. Only Beijing can do this. Or what?
Initial response to Carrie Lam:
— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) September 4, 2019
1. Too little and too late now — Carrie Lam's response comes after 7 lives sacrificed, more than 1,200 protestors arrested, in which many are mistreated in police station.
4. We urge the world too to alert this tactic and not to be deceived by HK and Beijing Govt. They have conceded nothing in fact, and a full-scale clampdown is on the way.
— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) September 4, 2019
5. In short, Carrie Lam's repeated failure in understanding the situation has made this announcement completely out of touch - She needs to address to ALL Five Demands: STOP PROSECUTION, STOP CALLING US RIOTERS, INDEPENDENT INQUIRY OF POLICE and FREE ELECTION!
— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) September 4, 2019
According to the Rules of Procedure of the LegCo, the bill needs to be OFFICIALLY withdrawn after the commencement of its second reading. They wanna fool Hongkongers again! pic.twitter.com/7LqsP0WrWc
— kathymaru (@kathymaru2) September 4, 2019
That is the hallmark of outdated Hierarchical systems:
— jaap van till (@jvantill) September 4, 2019
they are SLOW =their response time is to long for this day and age. @aiww
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This move by Carrie Lam shows victory is in sight for the Hong Kong protests. The movement is not asking for Hong Kong independence, but it is asking for universal suffrage. I read that to mean, all members of the Hong Kong legislature need to be directly elected by the people as the Chief Executive. This is the key demand. I support it 100%.
The Chinese mainland itself has to move towards directly elected leaders. Ultimately.
Carrie Lam, What Took You So Long? @demosisto @joshuawongcf https://t.co/ZmYf2WIDTn #HongKong #HongKongProtests #HongKongProtest @MirchandaniYana @raypaxful
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) September 4, 2019
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) September 4, 2019
An immediate response from an anonymous #HongKong netizen to Carrie Lam agreeing to one of the 5 demands from protesters:
— Kinling Lo 盧建靈 (@kinlinglo) September 4, 2019
A five turned four-starred Red Flag
"If you are okay with this, we are too."
[The essence of my beautiful mother tongue Cantonese is just non-translatable] pic.twitter.com/DpUNySkIWv
Loading.... pic.twitter.com/INqeRUHAol
— Rachel Cheung (@rachel_cheung1) September 4, 2019
Even when #HongKong Government & MTR subway system become terrorist organizations, #HongKongers don't lose hope. We fight on. Such bravery & determination are embodied in this young man. Thank Hong Kong Univ. Campus TV for the footage (yet another brave young person)! #FreedomHK pic.twitter.com/jjoEPNWzf0
— Ray Chan (@ray_slowbeat) August 31, 2019
Responding to the withdrawal of the bill:
— Nathan Law 羅冠聰 (@nathanlawkc) September 4, 2019
We fight for democracy and autonomy. The movement will continue.#FreeHongKong pic.twitter.com/j1M5jgi79j
44-year-old Sze Sen-ming is blocking five police vans on Hennessy Road. The nurse says it’s not his first time blocking police vehicles.
— Ezra Cheung (@ezracheungtoto) August 31, 2019
“I did that for the next generation (of Hong Kong),” he says. “I have nothing to be scared of. It’s just a body.”#antiELAB #ExtraditionLaw pic.twitter.com/PDLtjI1BrC
Carrie Lam, What Took You So Long? https://t.co/ZmYf2WIDTn @demosisto @joshuawongcf @nathanlawkc @maryhui @kinlinglo @sumlokkei @rachel_cheung1 @lokinhei @HKDemocrats @WilsonLeungWS @HongKongPLG @ray_slowbeat @hk_watch @hkpoliceforce @EricCheungwc #HongKong
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) September 4, 2019
Carrie Lam, What Took You So Long? https://t.co/ZmYf2WIDTn @jasonyng @BillyOYLi @cng1238 @Fight4HongKong @FreedomHKG @BeWaterHKG @ezracheungtoto @antd @RichScotford @XinqiSu @holmeschan_ @chowtingagnes #HongKong #HongKongProtests #HongKongProtest
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) September 4, 2019