Xi Supports Lam, but How to End the Crisis?

Lam looks relieved, Xi gives an awkward smile... what does it mean?

A few days ago the media were led up the wrong tree, that Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor would not meet Chinese President Xi Jinping until Wednesday, but in fact she already saw him on Monday evening in Shanghai on the sidelines of the China International Import Expo.

There's a picture of Lam (with coiffed hair and Ferragamo heels) looking relieved perhaps because she would not be axed from her job yet, though it's interesting Xi bared his teeth while smiling, as he hardly ever shows his pearly whites.

What does that smile mean?

Lam met with Xi at 10pm following a dinner

This was the first meeting between the two since the anti-government protests broke out in early June.

"Xi expressed his hope that people from all walks of life in Hong Kong fully and faithfully implement the principle of 'one country, two systems', Xinhua reported.

While he demanded "unswerving efforts to stop and punish violent activities" in accordance with the law, the Chinese president also called for more dialogue with different sectors of society.

Lam said it was natural for Xi to be concerned about what is happening in Hong Kong. "I can feel his support over the work that the government has done to curb violence," she said.

The authorities' way of dealing with the protests doesn't work

What does "I can feel his support" mean? Did he not explicitly say he supported her? It sounds very vague... which makes you wonder what did they talk about then?

Another intriguing aspect of this meeting is that it was "spontaneous". Lam said the meeting was not originally on her schedule, and a source said it wasn't on Xi's itinerary either. She was only notified about it just before the expo's dinner banquet that he would meet her later at 10pm.

Wonder if she managed to eat anything during the dinner...

In any event now that Beijing has supposedly quashed rumours that Lam will be fired anytime soon, she still has to clean up the mess she created. But how? Following Beijing's approach of stopping the violence first before dialogue can begin hasn't been effective at all.

The protests are still going on into their fifth month

Pan-democrats worry Xi's vote of confidence will bolster Lam's belief that she is doing the right thing and give the police even more leeway in being tougher with the protesters. While over 3,000 people have been arrested, only a tiny fraction have been convicted, which shows the heavy handedness of the authorities in arresting people -- protesting or not -- willy nilly.

They are only wasting administrative time and effort, which we, the taxpayers are paying for, along with the tear gas, rubber bullets, beanbag rounds, pepper spray...