Hong Kong | Carrie Lam pledges new effort at dialogue over protests

Hong Kong protesters rejected leader Carrie Lam’s attempt to meet one of their key demands, raising questions about whether a compromise can be reached even as both sides seek to lower tensions.

Lam pledged to immediately establish a platform for dialogue, investigate complaints against police and institute a wide-ranging fact- finding study into the demonstrations. While details remained scarce, she said the platform would involve people from different walks of life, political views and stances. She said authorities would enlist international experts to conduct the fact-finding study, which would be released to the public in six months.

“I hope that this is a very responsible response to the aspirations for better understanding of what has taken place in Hong Kong,” Lam told a briefing yesterday. The study, she added, “will provide the government with recommendations on how to move forward and also to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents.”

The moves appear to be a fresh attempt to engage with pro-democracy protesters, who came out in force on Sunday in a largely peaceful gathering that contrasted with violent clashes with police in previous weeks. While the move falls short of meeting the five key demands of demonstrators, who oppose Beijing’s attempts to tighten control over the city, it indicates a softening in Lam’s stance after she earlier ruled out an independent inquiry.

Lam’s opposition met the proposal with skepticism. Lawmaker Alvin Yeung said he wondered if it was just a “media gesture.” The Civil Human Rights Front – which has organized the movement’s biggest mass marches – quickly rejected her offer.

“The fact is that Carrie Lam doesn’t see Hong Kong citizens as stakeholders in society, so what do we expect to talk about on the platform for dialogue?” the group’s vice convener, Wong Yik-mo, told reporters. “We do not need a platform for dialogue in which higher officials can bluff and waste our time and waste our money.”

Pressure has built on Lam among not just protesters, but also the police. Anthony Neoh, chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Council, told the South China Morning Post in an article published yesterday that the city cannot rely on police alone to restore calm and that a political solution was needed. He said he wouldn’t rule out an inquiry at a later stage, once the two sides had reconciled.

Lam has previously said dialogue could resume after violence stopped. Her efforts so far to reach out to some student leaders were rebuffed after they rejected her conditions on the meetings.

“This is something we want to do in a very sincere and humble manner,” Lam said at the briefing, adding that she would implement a “robust system” to look at complaints against police. “Our goal is to make efforts to resolve differences.”

Pro-establishment lawmaker Michael Tien said yesterday Lam has a “golden window” to make concessions to the protesters in the wake of the peaceful rally.

If the government “wants to avoid any central government intervention during the month of September, this is a perfect time for Carrie Lam to think about addressing some of the five demands,” he told Bloomberg Television. Tien criticized Lam’s response so far, and said the city needed a politician as a leader instead of a civil servant.

Lam’s proposal came as the U.K. said it was “extremely concerned” by reports that one of its Hong Kong consulate workers, 28-year-old Simon Cheng, had been detained during a recent trip to the mainland city of Shenzhen, just across the border (more on p11). China has accused the British government of meddling in its former colony by defending protesters’ rights. Stephen Tan, Dominic Lau & Shawna Kwan, Bloomberg