The head of Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s cabinet said today that is impossible for the city’s legislature to move ahead with the debate on a controversial extradition bill in light of a enormous demonstration against the bill that descended into chaos on Wednesday.
Speaking on an RTHK program, Bernard Chan, convenor of the city’s largely pro-Beijing executive council, suggested the government would at least need to pump the brakes on the deeply unpopular law, citing the “massive conflict” between demonstrators and police the other day.
However, he appeared to stop short of recommending the government withdraw the bill altogether — as opponents have demanded — saying only that the government should consider its next move carefully to avoid further clashes.
“I think it is impossible to discuss [the bill] under such confrontation. It would be very difficult,” Chan was quoted as saying by the SCMP.
“At the very least we should not escalate the antagonism.”
The proposed bill would allow, for the first time in decades, extraditions to the mainland, sparking widespread fears that Hongkongers and foreign residents alike could be unfairly ensnared in China’s opaque and politicized court system.
The bill is so unpopular that hundreds of thousands of people participated in a peaceful march on Sunday to oppose it, and tens of thousands blew off work on Wednesday to attend another demonstration to prevent the LegCo from reopening the debate on the legislation.
As protesters effectively surrounded the Central Government Offices, occupying several major roads, police responded to pockets of unrest by firing some 150 tear gas rounds, 20 bean-bag rounds, and “several” rubber bullets in an hours-long attempt to force demonstrators to disperse, HKFP reports.
“What happened on Wednesday is saddening and is not something that we would want to see,” Chan said. “We indeed need to review what to do. Our first task right now is on how to mollify the public to avoid more clashes in future.”
However, when asked if the government should reconsider its push to pass the bill in legislative session, Chan demurred, saying that would depend on whether lawmakers were confident it would pass.
