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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam admits to being caught out by protests: ‘I’m an administrator that doesn’t understand politics’
- City’s chief executive tells Phoenix Satellite Television she could not have predicted protests that erupted out of her doomed extradition bill
- Lam also says family trusts her 100 per cent because ‘they know what I’m doing is right’
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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has described herself as an administrator who does not understand politics in a television interview, saying she could not have predicted the turmoil that erupted last year from her doomed extradition bill.
During a detailed conversation with Phoenix Satellite Television, the chief executive also said it was her duty to uphold the “one country, two systems” principle under which Hong Kong is governed, and added her family trusted her 100 per cent because “they know what I’m doing is right”.
The bill was sparked by the case of Chan Tong-kai, a Hongkonger wanted in Taiwan on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend Poon Hiu-wing in Taipei in February 2018.
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Since there was no extradition agreement between the two places, Hong Kong could not send Chan back to Taiwan.
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A year of anti-government protests in Hong Kong
A year of anti-government protests in Hong Kong
The case was cited as a major reason for pushing forward legislation that would have allowed suspects to be sent to jurisdictions Hong Kong lacked an extradition agreement with, including mainland China.
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