(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam didn’t make any new concessions to protesters in her first comments after pro-democracy forces won a landslide in local elections, a move that risks leading to further violence after months of unrest.
Lam spoke on Tuesday after pro-democracy forces won local district elections in a landslide, delivering a strong rebuke of her administration and its backers in Beijing. About 85% of 452 District Council seats went to pro-democracy candidates, a swing of more than 50 percentage points amid a record turnout.
Lam only said the vote reflected “unhappiness” with the government and called for peaceful dialogue in line with a plan she outlined more than two months ago. Protesters have already rejected those suggestions, which included several reviews of the police and greater societal issues that demonstrators don’t consider fully independent.
“We will seriously reflect on these views expressed to us and improve governance,” Lam said at a weekly briefing before a meeting of the city’s Executive Council. “After these five or six months, Hong Kong people have realized very clearly that Hong Kong can no longer tolerate this chaotic situation. Everybody wants to go back to their normal life and this requires the concerted efforts of every one of us.”
Stocks slipped after her remarks, following Monday’s 1.5% gain in the Hang Seng Index after the election. On Monday, Lam said her government “will listen to the opinions of members of the public humbly,” leading some to believe Lam might consider meeting one of the main demands of Hong Kong protesters, who have called for an independent commission of inquiry into the unrest.
‘Reflecting Seriously’
“It was reassuring to hear Carrie Lam commit to reflecting seriously on the message delivered by the people of Hong Kong,” U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement Monday. “There is now an opportunity to find a way through the crisis with political dialogue that reflects the legitimate aspirations of the people of Hong Kong and respects the ‘one country two systems’ model.”
On Tuesday, however, Lam pledged to continue with her government’s pre-existing strategy of pursuing dialogue with the city’s residents, which she said had been interrupted by increasingly violent protests. “The priority for us now is to properly follow up on actions proposed, including community dialogue,” she said.
One possible flashpoint is a siege at Hong Kong Polytechnic University that has lasted for more than a week, with police surrounding potentially dozens of students. A flash mob was planned in the central financial district around noon on Tuesday to support the protesters.
Peaceful marches against the extradition bill earlier this year have since expanded to include calls for greater democracy and pushback against Beijing’s grip on the Asian financial hub. In recent weeks, protests turned increasingly violent and disruptive as demonstrators clashed with police, vandalized the city’s public transit network, blocked roads and barricaded themselves inside fortified university campuses.
China foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Monday that stopping violence and restoring order “is the paramount task in Hong Kong at the moment.”
(Updates with U.K. foreign secretary comments)
