Hong Kong being dragged down ‘path of no return’ says Carrie Lam, as she calls protests an attack on Beijing’s sovereignty
- Embattled chief executive makes first public appearance for two weeks and accuses protesters of attempting to destroy city
- Lam refuses to resign and calls on anti-government demonstrators to stop gambling with lives of 7 million people
Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has warned anti-government protesters they are dragging the city down a “path of no return”, and called the ongoing civil unrest an attack on Beijing’s sovereignty, on “one country, two systems”, and an attempt to destroy Hong Kong.
In her first public appearance in two weeks, Lam also accused protesters of gambling with the lives of 7 million people, and said the city was becoming “unsafe and unstable”.
Flanked by eight of her ministers at a 40-minute press conference, the chief executive toughened her stance towards protesters and said she would not accept any of their demands, such as for her to resign.
She said the government’s way of taking responsibility was by dealing with the aftermath of its effort to push through the extradition bill, which she suspended on June 15.
Lam also insisted the protests were not about her governance or the bill any more, when asked what would she do to calm the social unrest.