As it happened: Carrie Lam holds public dialogue to address protests in Hong Kong, but remains in venue for four more hours
- Protesters and police continue to loiter around Wan Chai's Queen Elizabeth Stadium and Lam only leaves four hours after event ended
- Chief executive earlier stood firm on calls to launch a commission of inquiry into police use of force but vowed no more protesters would be sent to controversial detention centre
The mood outside Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai remains tense more than an hour after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor wrapped up her first community dialogue with the public, where 30 speakers posed questions and some berated her over the months-long anti-government protests rocking the city.
A crowd of more than 100 have blocked nearby roads as they chant slogans while waiting for government vehicles to come out of the stadium car park. A source says Lam is still in the complex.
Police have prepared contingency plans, including working out different routes to escort Lam out of the venue, amid earlier online calls for protesters to besiege the stadium. The session is one of Lam’s four major action plans, announced earlier in September, to ease the political turmoil in the city, with 150 people selected at random from more than 20,200 who had applied to take part.
Officials at the session comprised home affairs secretary Lau Kong-wah, commerce minister Edward Yau Tang-wah, health minister Sophia Chan Siu-chee and constitutional affairs minister Patrick Nip Tak-kuen.
Follow our live coverage below. Reporting by Kimmy Chung, Kanis Leung, Yujing Liu, Linda Lew, Jeffie Lam, Victor Ting and Gary Cheung.