Why did Carrie Lam not bow when she apologised for her mishandling of the Hong Kong extradition bill?
- Leader’s aides decide there is no precedent for bowing when saying sorry for a botched policy
- The only time a city chief executive made such a gesture was when Donald Tsang expressed his regret for personal misconduct
To bow or not to bow. That was the question debated by Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her top aides at a meeting when they discussed how to approach the formal apology she finally made on Tuesday.
A government source revealed they discussed the format of the apology during their meeting at Government House on Monday.
When the chief executive finally appeared at a press conference on Tuesday to answer questions on her handling of the controversial extradition bill, Lam issued her “most sincere apology”, but did not bow.
“The officials reached the consensus that it would be proper to offer an apology in words without the need of body language, such as a bow,” the source said.
In coming to their decision, Lam and company looked to the past for precedents and found the one occasion when a Hong Kong leader did genuflect was over an issue of personal conduct and integrity rather than a mismanaged policy.