Opinion | Can Carrie Lam, or anyone, defuse the Hong Kong rebellion before the National Day fireworks on October 1?

Beijing is seething after Hong Kong protesters defaced national emblems. It would be even more embarrassed if the 70th national anniversary was marred by scenes of unrest. The authorities need to work out how to meet protesters’ demands

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An elderly woman is helped by a demonstrator after police fire tear gas during a protest in Tin Shui Wai on August 5. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00am, 8 Aug 2019Updated: 9:17am, 8 Aug 2019

We are fast approaching October 1. This will not be just another national day. Beijing will stage a big bash to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Patriotism is the theme. Will Hong Kong be a party pooper?

I fear so, unless Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor extricates us from the political abyss she has plunged us into. She’s got less than two months. So far, she has proved to be a leader who can’t even lead, let alone work miracles.

Beijing seethed when protesters vandalised its liaison office last month, defacing the national emblem. As if that was not humiliating enough, protesters last Saturday removed a Chinese flag from a pole next to the Kowloon Star Ferry and threw it into the harbour.

If this in-your-face insult, flashed around the world, had happened on the mainland, the perpetrator would face the kind of justice I don’t even want to imagine. But it happened here, and all Beijing could do was fume.

A man holds a British colonial flag during a rally along Nathan Road on August 3. Photo: AFP

To many Hongkongers, removing a flag or defacing an emblem is no big deal. They grew up in a society where freedom of expression is taken for granted. But to Beijing, symbols matter.

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