CE says hopes extradition bill withdrawal will help solve crisis

Four actions announced by Hong Kong government, including withdrawing the extradition bill, aim to lay the groundwork for wide societal dialogue to help the city move on, said Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Thursday.

The government’s move, announced Wednesday, came after Lam’s meetings with different groups to take advice for the establishment of such discussion.

Speaking a day after announcing the four actions, Lam said one piece of advice she got from these meetings is for government “to take the initiative to provide a basis for the dialogue”.

“The withdrawal of the bill to fully allay public concerns is an important basis for dialogue,” she said.

A key demand for protesters was the withdrawal of the extradition bill, which had sparked mass protests since June 9 and plunged the Asian business hub into its biggest political crisis in decades.

The other four demands of the protesters – such as amnesty for all those arrested during the protests – are in conflict with the Basic Law and the rule of law, said Lam.

The withdrawal will be tendered by government when the Legislative Council resumes, with no voting or debate needed for the process.

The decision is one taken by the Hong Kong government, she said, adding Beijing understands and supports her decision.

Lam said that she hopes the four actions will be looked at "in context". "Taken together", she said, they will form a basis for discussion in the community.

The other actions include appointing two new members of the Independent Police Complaints Council, a long-established watchdog for the city's police force, commissioned by the government to conduct an independent fact-finding probe into the turmoil.

They are barrister Paul Lam Ting-kwok, former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, and Helen Yu Lai Ching-ping, a senior civil servant who has served in various public offices.

Another action will see Lam going into the community to talk directly with residents, along with her governing team.

Community leaders, professionals and academics are meanwhile invited to independently examine and review society's deep-seated problems and make suggestions on solutions to the government.

Lam's decision to withdraw the extradition bill showed her administration’s sincerity to listen to the people and mend the social rift that’s been drowning Hong Kong in a violent vortex all summer, commentators said on Wednesday.