Opinion | The Hong Kong story doesn’t have to end in tragedy

If the protests drag on, pro-government parties may well lose big in the upcoming local elections. In that case, it wouldn’t be impossible for an anti-China democrat to be elected chief executive, sparking a constitutional crisis. Is there a way out before that happens?

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A pedestrian steps through a barrier at the Legislative Council in Admiralty. If the government continues to perform dismally, pro-government parties might lose seats in the Legco election next September. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 7:00am, 13 Oct 2019Updated: 7:15am, 13 Oct 2019

Jeffrey A. Bader, a retired senior American diplomat who served as deputy consul general to Hong Kong in the run-up to 1997, recently wrote a piece on this city’s turmoil, saying: “What is unfolding is a Shakespearean tragedy in five acts.”

Not only have the months-long protests shown no signs of abatement, the city now seems to be teetering on the brink of lawlessness and anarchy. On many occasions, rioters have roamed across the city, trashing MTR stations, traffic lights and China-linked businesses; beating up whoever disagreed with them; even setting up roadblocks to terrorise passers-by.

The police are clearly outmanoeuvred and outnumbered. However hard they have tried in the past four months to maintain order, they are failing to get the situation under control and restore public respect for law and order.

Such a mammoth task cannot, of course, be undertaken by the police alone. Yet, nothing the government has done in the past four months – Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s tearful apologies, her announcement of the withdrawal of the rendition bill, and a regulation banning face coverings made under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance – seems to have had any material effect in restraining the rioters or winning back public confidence.

The riots have morphed into something much bigger than protests against an “evil” law. In 2003, the anti-sedition law protests subsided as soon as a postponement was announced. This time, the protests have returned with ever greater ferocity after each weekend of police operations.