A Mea Culpa That's Too Little, Too Late

Over the past weeks, police used teargas against the protesters

Protesters hold up effigies of chief executive Carrie Lam and police chief Stephen Lo. Photo: Sam Tsang

Amidst continuing protests, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam (right) announced on Tuesday that the controversial extradition bill "is dead". 

But she stopped short of saying it had been withdrawn completely, as protesters have been demanding. It is believed she is committing herself to allowing the bill to remain in limbo until the current legislative session ends – and then it will die by default. 

The bill sparked weeks of unrest in the city and the government had already suspended it indefinitely. 

The demonstrators are also calling for Lam to step down, for police officers to be punished for using excessive force, and a guarantee that protesters won’t be charged with rioting, an offence that carries a 10-year jail sentence. 

But none of the demands have been met. 

One of the leading figures of the protest movement, activist Joshua Wong (left), reiterated the demand for the bill to be "formally withdrawn" and accused Lam of using wordplay to "lie to the people of Hong Kong". 

Even now, Carrie Lam is tone-deaf. In fact, she should have started engaging with the citizenry a month ago. On June 16, two million took to the streets – and yet, she did not take heed that the protesters are still angry and they will continue to take to the streets. 

She had clearly underestimated the public’s anger over the bill and worse, she fumbled her apology. Indeed, she has come across as a cold bureaucrat who has totally lost the plot. 

Now, methinks, it is too late. 

I expect Lam will quit anytime soon because the protests are not going to go away. Besides, protesters are emboldened by the turn of events, much of them Lam’s own misguided doing. 

I fear there is no turning back, whether for Lam or the protesters.