As Hong Kong protests reflect anti-mainland China sentiment, Carrie Lam boosts cross-border ties
- While city residents baulk at dealing with Beijing’s legal system, and unrest makes mainland authorities wary, Lam heads to conference on regional cooperation
- Dealings ‘should continue for the mutual benefit of Hong Kong and the mainland, and for the people on both sides’
Hong Kong’s embattled leader has insisted the city will continue to cooperate with its mainland Chinese neighbours, despite anti-government protests straining cross-border ties.
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was speaking after attending the annual pan-Pearl River Delta regional cooperation conference in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Friday. The conference came two days after the chief executive, in a dramatic U-turn, announced she would formally withdraw an extradition bill which sparked a protest crisis running since early June.
The legislation would have allowed the government to transfer fugitives to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong lacks an extradition deal, notably mainland China, bringing into sharp focus local worries over integration.
A movement which began with peaceful marches has escalated to include violent clashes with police, and the defacement of China’s national flag outside public buildings and facilities. Sources said mainland authorities had grown wary of working with the city because of the current political sentiment.
But Lam said cross-border cooperation would go on.
“Hong Kong has been reunited with China for 22 years, and over the years, Hong Kong has benefited significantly from opening up and continuous reform of the mainland economy,” she said.