Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s (林鄭月娥) dodgy and perfunctory attitude at a news conference on Monday following Sunday’s attack on pro-democracy protesters at Yuen Long subway station revealed a dysfunctional administration that has lost the public’s trust and could renew calls for political reform in the territory.
Neither Lam nor her deputies were able to give any concrete answer to reporters’ questions on why it took the police so long to respond to reports of alleged gangsters attacking people and journalists heading home from a rally.
Police reportedly arrived at the scene almost two hours after the assault began. Many said that law-enforcement officials either ignored their calls or shut them out of police stations when they wanted to report the attacks.
Lam gave generic responses at the news conference, condemning the violence while claiming that she had been “monitoring the incident” with other officials the previous night.
She did not answer questions on whether she had only learned about the incident on Monday morning or why it took her so long to hold the news conference.
While dismissing speculation that the police had turned a blind eye to the attacks because of “collusion with gangsters,” she and Hong Kong Police Commissioner Stephen Lo (盧偉聰) could not give a valid reason for the police’s apparent indifference to calls for help.
Lam’s handling of the incident stands in stark contrast to her attitude earlier this month when she held a news conference at 4am to “seriously condem” protesters who stormed the Legislative Council building.
Her administration has been trying to sell the Hong Kong public a story that has been rejected by most people, and at this point, it no longer matters what she says, as she has lost the public’s trust and tarnished the territory’s image as a financial and commercial hub.
Even if she could prove that the police did not collaborate with triad members, her administration’s handling of the incident was a disaster and would have cost her her job and political career if she were a duly elected official.
From the outset, Lam’s hardline stance when dealing with the controversial extradition bill — calling it “dead,” but refusing to withdraw it — had been a source of contention for protesters. It has also led to bloody crackdowns, sparking criticism of political use of force, which harks back to the 2014 “Umbrella movement” protests.
Her obstinacy has aggravated a conflict deeply rooted in Hong Kong society: The government does not represent the people and therefore cannot reflect public opinion.
When the UK handed authority over Hong Kong to China in 1997, the agreement was that the territory would be allowed to retain its autonomy for 50 years under the “one country, two systems” framework.
Lam, a puppet of Beijing, does not and cannot reflect the will of the people, and the “autonomy” promised in the agreement has existed in name only.
The problem that sparked the “Umbrella movement” could come back to haunt Hong Kongers sooner than most people might expect.
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