Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Wednesday announced the withdrawal of an extradition bill that caused months of unrest and had thrown the Chinese-ruled city into its worst crisis in decades.
Lam will meet with pro-Beijing lawmakers, Hong Kong deputies to the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference at government house at 4 pm, according to RTHK.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong soared more than 3.5 per cent on Wednesday afternoon trade after the reports came to the withdrawal of the controversial extradition bill.
The protests evolved into a wider democracy campaign involving clashes between protesters and police, in the biggest challenge to China’s rule of Hong Kong since its 1997 handover from the British.
For the last three months, both Lam and Beijing have refused to make any concessions to the protesters beyond agreeing to suspend the bill, a move that fell far short of demands that it be permanently shelved.
The bill would have allowed extraditions to mainland China where courts are controlled by the Communist Party,
It was not clear if the announcement of the bill’s withdrawal would help end the unrest. The immediate reaction appeared sceptical and muted and the real gauge will be how many people take to the streets.
The chief executive’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier on Tuesday, Lam had rejected suggestions that China was stopping her from stepping down from her post, saying it was her choice to stay as she wanted to solve the city’s ongoing problems.
Lam’s remarks come a day after the leaking of an audio recording, suggesting that she had said in a closed-door meeting she would quit given the choice, for causing “unforgivable havoc” to the city.
“About resignation, I said on several occasions previously and also affirmed by my colleagues in the Chief Executive’s Office in response to media enquiries that throughout this period … I have never tendered resignation to the central people’s government,” Lam said.