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Opinion | Hong Kong protesters must call a truce for the district council elections – or let Carrie Lam win the day
- Violent attacks on two district council candidates are reason enough for Lam to cancel the upcoming elections, especially since it’s clear the government cannot be counted on to guarantee safety on election day. The ball is now in protesters’ court
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Why you can trust SCMP
We are entering week 23 of the protests and guess who is winning? Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
Christmas came early for Lam.
On the sidelines of the 2019 China International Import Expo in Shanghai last week, Lam was granted a surprise meeting with her boss, President Xi Jinping. It was the first official meeting between the two since the city began its tailspin into hell in June. The “high degree of support” that the Chinese president assured Lam of came with an order for her to rein in the social chaos.
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Many read Xi expressing his full support to Lam at the unscheduled meeting as a way of quashing speculation that she would be replaced. That’s most probably true, but he also told her to take care of the unbridled violence and destruction on the streets. Xi may have repeated what everyone has been saying, but the fact that Lam has completely failed to calm things down and restore order would not have been lost on him.
So how are we to read Xi’s unwavering support juxtaposed with his order for her to do what Lam has not been able to and, by logic, will not be able to do?
Nonetheless, from what has transpired last week, we know everything is in place – “locked and loaded”, so to speak – and all Lam has to do is pull the trigger to cancel district council elections. The attack on civilians and a candidate at a popular shopping centre and the stabbing, in broad daylight, of a candidate canvassing votes provide more than enough reason.
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