Lam's Insincerity Shines Through

A pale-looking Carrie Lam personally apologizes to Hong Kong people

This afternoon was the main event -- Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was going to apologize to the Hong Kong people.

Reporters noticed her lectern had boxes of tissues ready. Would she be really sincere and cry?

At 4pm she appeared in a cream-coloured suit in front of a light blue screen. Right off the bat she apologized for her short-comings and said she had heard the voices of the people.

But then for the rest of the 51 minutes, Lam refused to withdraw the extradition bill, refused to resign, and refused to hold an independent inquiry into allegations the police were too heavy handed when they clashed with protesters and the media on June 12.

She did say the bill was shelved as long as there were "conflicts in society", so does that mean forever? Or until her term is over?

Some 2 million people took over the streets on Sunday

Lam admitted she would have a difficult three years ahead in governing Hong Kong, though protesters outside the Legislative Council were unimpressed by her speech and booed.

Many people in Hong Kong feel she has lost the mandate to lead the city, as evidenced by the 2 million people who came out to protest two days ago. She totally mishandled the campaign to have the extradition law passed, and then refused to take responsibility for the excessive force the police used.

She only clarified that the protest march last Sunday was not considered a riot, echoing Police Commissioner Stephen Lo wai-chung's position as he yesterday backed down from his original declaration that the protesters were rioters. This came after there was an outcry when police began going into hospitals and arresting rioters, and even in dormitories on university campuses.

In total 32 people were arrested since last Wednesday.

There was no admission by Lam that the police's firing of 150 rounds of tear gas (87 were fired in the 2014 Occupy protests), "several" rounds of rubber bullets, and 20 bean bag shots that can easily injure someone was too much force against protesters who didn't have much protection let alone "weapons" to confront the police.

Protesters booed while Lam spoke in the press conference

So how can Lam say she has listened to the people and pledged to do a better job for the next three years when she has not acceded to any of the protesters' demands?

This was what was most disappointing to the 2 million people who flooded into the streets on Sunday. She really didn't listen to them. By extension, Beijing didn't listen to them.

But by the same token, Lam is between a rock and a hard place.

Even if she wanted to resign, Beijing may not let her. According to a Reuters report, a senior Hong Kong official close to Lam said [if she resigned] that would "create more problems than it solves, at all sorts of levels".

Hmmm let me guess? Because there is no one else suitable to take over this thankless job, though the best part is that the chief executive is paid more than the president of the United States?

Already before the press conference, Bloomberg was speculating who would be waiting in the wings. Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee is one candidate, so is former chief executive Leung Chun-ying, former CE candidate John Tsang Chun-wah, and even Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, the former Legco president.

Would you like any of these four to take over from Lam?

When Lam took questions from reporters, none of them asked her how she felt when the Chinese ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming said last week that Beijing never instructed the Hong Kong government to pass the extradition bill.

"As a matter of fact, [the] Beijing central government gave no instruction, no order about making [the] amendment. This amendment was initiated by the Hong Kong government, it was prompted by a murder case in Taiwan," he told the BBC.

Talk about throwing Lam under the bus. China really wanted to be perceived to have any connection with the extradition bill, but why would she suddenly want to ram it through?

Regardless, the public will not stand for Lam to continue leading Hong Kong, which means there are going to be more protests in the coming days and weeks.

Hope Lam's ready for more images of people on the streets. They have had enough of the insincerity and lack of integrity.