HONG KONG: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Thursday (Sep 26) she should hold talks with the people no matter how difficult, as she opened the first "open dialogue" sessions in a bid to end nearly four months of sometimes violent protests.
The biggest responsibility for resolving the crisis in the Chinese-ruled city lay with the government, she said, as protesters chanted slogans outside.
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The lasers are out at the Queen Elizabeth stadium – this crowd formed as early as 5pm Sg / HK time. Theyre outside the venue where HK leader Carrie Lam is meeting 150 randomly selected people in her first dialogue since the political crisis started in June pic.twitter.com/XqSr7MksmO
— Leong Wai Kit (@LeongWaiKitCNA) September 26, 2019
“If we want to walk away from the difficulty and find a way out, the government has to take the biggest responsibility to do so,” Lam said at the colonial-era indoor Queen Elizabeth stadium.
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Outside, about 100 protesters chanted: "Hong Kong people, add oil," a slogan meaning "keep your strength up."
Schoolchildren chant slogans as they take part in a "human chain" near the Queen Elizabeth Stadium on Sep 26, 2019. (Photo: AFP/Philip Fong)
Beijing-backed Lam was holding talks with 150 members of the community, with speakers each given around three minutes to express their views.
Security was tight around the venue in the commercial and nightlife district of Wan Chai, where some schools and businesses closed early ahead of the meeting scheduled for 7pm.
"Deep wounds have been opened in our society. These will take time to heal," Lam said in an opinion piece in the New York Times.
"But it remains this government's hope that conversation will triumph over conflict and that through its actions, calm can be restored and trust can be rebuilt within the community."
Resident Poon Yau-lok, 62, was sceptical that the talks would make any difference.
"They wouldn't listen when 200,000 people marched on the street. Why would they listen to just 150?" she told Reuters.
Protests over a now-shelved extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial have evolved into broader calls for greater democracy.
People chant slogans as they take part in a "human chain" near the Queen Elizabeth Stadium on Sep 26, 2019. (Photo: AFP/Nicolas Asfouri)
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Protesters are angry about what they see as creeping Chinese interference in Hong Kong, which returned to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula intended to guarantee freedoms that are not enjoyed on the mainland.
China says it is committed to the arrangement and denies meddling. It has accused foreign governments including the United StateRead More – Source
