Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) yesterday said that more than 20,000 people have applied to take part in a dialogue session with her and “vent their anger” at the government after three months of huge pro-democracy protests.
It is the government’s first attempt to reach out to the protesters.
Lam said that Thursday’s meeting would be an opportunity for people to have their voices heard, but some protesters said that they were not interested, as their demands are already clear.
Photo: Reuters
“We have promised that participants from different backgrounds, with different political stands, could express their opinions freely, even vent their anger,” Lam said.
While thousands have applied, just 150 people are to be chosen at random to attend the two-hour session with Lam, and protest equipment such as umbrellas, helmets and gas masks are not to be allowed.
“I hope the community dialogue could be held in a peaceful, rational and calm environment,” Lam said.
Hong Kong has entered a 17th week of political unrest that was seen hundreds of rallies, some of which have ended in violent clashes between police and protesters.
More than 1,500 people have been arrested, the youngest aged 12.
Lam said that she felt “heartache” seeing children being arrested and asked: “How well can children understand the current political issues?”
“Here I need to urge parents, teachers and principals [that they] must let children know that political problems are not that simple,” Lam added.
Her remarks drew criticism from opposition legislators.
“You never underestimate the young’s voice,” Hong Kong Legislator Claudia Mo (毛孟靜) said. “Many young people these days are very mature-minded and they know perfectly what they are thinking ... and what a civilized society should be.”
Video emerged over the weekend of police officers kicking a man wearing a yellow shirt in an alley.
At a news conference on Monday, a senior police officer said it was not clear that the “yellow object” was a man and claimed the video might have been doctored, sparking ridicule online.
Higher resolution footage of the same incident shows a man on the ground, surrounded by police, one of whom kicked him.
Police have repeatedly denied using excessive force and Lam insisted they had exercised restraint.
“The fact that over three months we have not seen major fatalities in Hong Kong, by world standards ... it is quite remarkable,” Lam said.
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