Editorial | Reconciliation needs dialogue, but first the violence must end
- Peace will not be restored overnight, but a start has to be made and that must come from those who govern Hong Kong
These incidents followed the mobilisation of demonstrators in support of a call for a general strike. Action to enforce the strike plunged traffic into chaos, with police reporting 120 instances of obstruction of MTR tracks and streets to disrupt transport.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor finally broke her silence on one of the worst escalations of violence last night. Only last week she returned from a visit to Beijing with the full support of President Xi Jinping. The top leader also called for both “unswerving efforts to stop and punish violent activities” in accordance with the law, and more dialogue with different sectors of society.
Lam cannot be faulted for unswerving efforts against violence. But it has not stopped it. There is no sign of an openness to dialogue that might break the deadlock. Her response last night condemning violence contained nothing new. It may be unreasonable to expect calm to be restored and dialogue to begin overnight. But that does not rule out some positive action or direction, rather than silence and then more of the same, when the city is in dire need of reassurance about an eventual end to violence and a beginning to reconciliation.