Hong Kong, July 5: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Thursday said she has asked to hold direct dialogues with a group of protesting students amidst growing pressure on her to scrap a controversial extradition bill that would permit suspects in the territory to be sent to mainland China for court prosecution.
A spokesperson for Lam, in an emailed statement, said the leader had “recently started inviting young people of different backgrounds for a meeting, including university students and young people who have participated in recent protests”.
However, the student council at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) turned down Lam-led government offer, stating she had called for closed-door dialogues, according to Reuters news reports.
Facebook, stated, “The dialogue must be open to all Hong Kong citizens to participate, and allow everybody the right to speak.”
The spokesperson stated the meeting would take place in a small scale and “closed-door manner” in order to ensure an “in-depth and frank exchange of views”.
The university’s students’ union leader Jordan Pang said if the government vows not to prove protesters then only he would agree to the offer.
“We don’t understand why she didn’t openly respond to the people’s demands but prefer to do it through a closed-door meeting,” Pang said.
“We want to ask if the government sincerely wants to communicate with young people or if it’s just another political PR show.”
The HKBA (Hong Kong Bar Association) has reiterated calls for the city’s government to immediately organize an independent inquiry for a look into June 12 events – when police open fired rubber bullets, tear gas at peaceful protesters.
“HKBA calls on the government to respond in a sincere way to the demands of the community voiced so emphatically over the past weeks,” it said. “A refusal to engage with the public over important and pressing issues is inimical to the rule of law.”