The View | How Carrie Lam could end the Hong Kong turmoil in a single speech – with an amnesty for protesters and police, an independent inquiry and more social welfare

Whenever the chief executive appears in public, her speeches show no sign of having learned anything from events thus far

This is especially frustrating as the government could quickly end the protests, even without conceding to all demands

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Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s infrequent public appearances and lack of suggestions for ending Hong Kong’s crisis have frustrated observers. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 10:57am, 15 Aug 2019Updated: 10:15pm, 15 Aug 2019

After skipping a press conference on Monday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor held a short one largely in Cantonese on Tuesday. It was an opportunity lost; she repeated previous mantras, as though the government has done no work despite being absent from public view. The government holds the solutions for peace in its hands but fiddles while Hong Kong continues to smoulder.

No change from Government House means no change. Rich leaders blaming relatively impecunious protesters for driving Hong Kong into recession is another sign of the government being out of touch.

In times of stress, it sometimes needs a clear head to come up with a press statement to calm Hong Kong overnight. Such a statement would be full of cheap giveaways and would be simultaneously translated into both Cantonese and English; the world’s media is beginning to put pressure on protesters. I have penned one here and the government is welcome to use it if they like. It is free, and worth what you paid for it:

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. I shall read a short statement. It will not be followed by questions, but we shall post a full question-and-answer sheet on the government website after this statement. I shall call a one-hour press conference in three days to take your questions.

“The last 12 weeks have been very difficult for Hong Kong. Our city has seen some dark days before recovering stronger than before, but few days have been darker than those in the last month. As the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the buck stops with me. So I have brought my cabinet and staff together over the past few days to develop radical solutions to the disturbances that have been so damaging to our home.

“I am aware that the trigger for the demonstrations was the proposed amendment to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and I have already apologised, and categorically said that the amendment was dead. It has been withdrawn and it will not come back.

The View | How Carrie Lam could end the Hong Kong turmoil in a single speech – with an amnesty for protesters and police, an independent inquiry and more social welfare

Whenever the chief executive appears in public, her speeches show no sign of having learned anything from events thus far This is especially frustrating as the government could quickly end the protests, even without conceding to all demands

Whenever the chief executive appears in public, her speeches show no sign of having learned anything from events thus far

This is especially frustrating as the government could quickly end the protests, even without conceding to all demands