 |
| Lam and Xi are colour coordinated, but do they agree on how to end protests? |
Today must have been a nerve-wracking one for Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor today, meeting her two bosses, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.
In pictures and footage she tries to look eager to please, but Xi seems uninterested in having to attend this meeting. Li's face looks grim too...
While both senior leaders praised Lam for her courage in dealing with the protests in Hong Kong that are stretching into its seventh month, they reminded her to finish her task of ending the violence.
 |
| Li looks grim-faced shaking Lam's hand today in Beijing |
That puts Lam between a rock and a hard place. How can you end the violence if you give no leeway for political reform or even entertain an independent inquiry?
It seems like the senior Chinese leadership still don't understand the issues in Hong Kong (or aren't being briefed properly), or they are still in denial about the reality of the situation.
Political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu said the two state leaders' remarks showed the central government was not fully satisfied with Lam's performance in stopping the violence, but still chose to continue to support her.
"Xi Jinping's appreciation of Lam sticking to the bottom line of the 'one country, two systems' indicates that Beijing puts the chief executive's political loyalty as a top priority," Lau said.
"Beijing has not changed its tough stance on Hong Kong, despite the pro-establishment camp's humiliating defeat in last month's district council elections."
He said Beijing was still holding on to its long-standing view that the deep-rooted problems in Hong Kong stemmed from failure to boost the city's economic development and address the wealth gap.
 |
| Johnny Lau says Beijing hasn't changed its stance on HK |
"Beijing still skirts Hong Kong people's calls for political reform as reflected in the anti-government protests since June," Lau said.
Meanwhile Lau Siu-kai, vice-chairman of the semi-official think tank The Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said it is unlikely Beijing will meet the protesters other demands.
"Beijing holds the view that Hong Kong's ongoing crisis is the result of foreign influence, so they reiterated their support for Lam and the police, believing that a hardline approach is best to end the street protests," he said.
But giving the police license to crackdown further on the protesters is not going to solve the situation," says opposition lawmaker and Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu.
"It feels like the central government is not entirely connected to what's happening on the ground," he said.
 |
| Alvin Yeung says the police may crack down harder on protests |
So today's meeting is just a continuation of before, and so the protests will continue.
The central government needs to understand that for the violence and the protests to end, concessions need to be made.
While this might seem like a big loss of face to the government, surely the ongoing protests and violence and economic recession is an even greater loss of face?
Meanwhile we hear from some China sources that the real reason the Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah was diverted from London to Beijing for a few weeks was to "get a bollocking" from senior Chinese officials about how the government was handling the six month-long protests in Hong Kong.
It definitely wasn't for medical treatment for her arm. Or maybe she did get medical treatment after her bollocking?
