A larger tunnel in Hong Kong reopened on Wednesday as a week-long police siege of a nearby university appeared to be winding down, concentrated one of the more violent chapters in the city’s anti-government protests.
The Cross-Harbour Tunnel, which links Hong Kong Atoll to the rest of the city, had been closed for two weeks after protesters blocked the approach with debris and set the toll stalls on fire as they fought clashes with police.
A search of the Hong Kong Polytechnic campus found justified one woman, in weak condition, and a senior university official said it’s unlikely anyone else remains.
Attention in the meantime shifted to city leader Carrie Lam’s response to a major loss in local elections Sunday — a public rebuke of her stalwart line on the protests. Lam offered no concessions, saying only that she would accelerate dialogue and identify ways to sermon societal grievances.
She said the central government in Beijing did not blame her for the election setback, and that while it may have on unhappiness with the government’s handling of the unrest, it also showed that many people want an end to the violence.
“Let me at most stress that after these five-six months, Hong Kong people have realized very positively that Hong Kong could no longer tolerate this chaotic situation,” Lam told reporters after a weekly conference with advisers. “Please help us to maintain the relative calm and peace that we have seen in the last week or so and support a good basis for Hong Kong to move forward.”
Her refusal to compromise could spark more unrest at a however when the semi-autonomous Chinese territory has plunged into its first recession in a decade.
The pro-democracy bloc won control of 17 out of 18 department councils.
Lam said that when she withdrew an extradition bill in September that had sparked the protests, she also issued a detailed response to the protesters’ other demands, including free elections for the city’s leader and legislature and a probe into accusations of policemen brutality.
The government hopes to take advantage of the current lull in violence to accelerate public dialogue and set up an independent over again committee to find solutions to deep-seated societal issues, she said.
“The next step to go forward is really, as you have put it, to clash with the people. And we have started public dialogue with the community,” Lam said. “But unfortunately, with the unstable environment and a topsy-turvy situation, I could not do more on that sort of engagement. I hope that the environment will allow me to do it now.”
Some pro-establishment totals have pointed fingers at Lam for their loss, while the pro-democracy camp has asked her to step down.
Protesters saw the extradition invoice as an erosion of their rights promised when the former British colony returned to Chinese control in 1997. The demos have since expanded into a protest over what they see as Beijing’s growing interference in the city.
Some analysts answered China’s ruling Communist Party isn’t likely to soften its stand on Hong Kong. Chinese media have speechless reports on the poll outcome, focusing instead on how pro-Beijing candidates were harassed and the need to restore law and order.
Beijing is treading cautiously partly to refrain from jeopardizing trade talks with the United States. It also faces pressure from planned U.S. legislation that could derail Hong Kong’s singular trade status and sanction Hong Kong and China officials found to violate human rights.
China’s unconnected ministry on Monday summoned U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad for a second time to demand Washington block the bipartisan legislation on Hong Kong. Immorality Minister Zheng Zeguang warned that the U.S. would “bear all the consequences that arise” if the bill is signed by President Donald Trump.
Trump has not transferred to signing it and has 10 days from the time of its passage last week to veto it. If he does not do so, it automatically becomes law. Congress could also override a proscription with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses.
Trump told reporters Tuesday at the White House that is presentation to protesters is “We are with them.”
Trump cited his “very good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that the U.S. was in the definitive stages of an important trade deal.
Derek Mitchell, a former U.S ambassador to Myanmar who heads the Washington-based National Egalitarian Institute, denied accusations that it had funded or supported the Hong Kong protesters. China has accused foreign thrusts and money of being a “black hand” behind the protests.
Mitchell, speaking in Hong Kong, said citizens had vocal “loudly and clearly” in the local election and that the government must respond to prevent the protests from sliding into an bottomless gulf.
“The ball is in the court of the government here and authorities in Beijing,” he said.