Hong Kong leader endures barrage of anger at town hall meeting

Hong Kong’s embattled leader endured a barrage of criticism at a town hall meeting yesterday night that laid bare anger coursing through the city after months of huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests. Chief Executive Carrie Lam faced more than two hours of grilling at a public “dialogue session”, the first time her pro-Beijing administration has sat down with its critics in 16 consecutive weeks of unrest.

Millions have hit the streets while hardcore activists have clashed repeatedly with police in the biggest challenge to China’s rule since the city’s handover from Britain in 1997. During the evening Lam dismissed accusations that the meeting was a public-relations exercise, saying she was there to listen as she admitted trust in her government had “fallen off a cliff”. “The biggest responsibility lies with myself, I won’t shirk the responsibility,” she said.

More than 20,000 people applied to attend yesterday’s meeting, with authorities picking 150 people in a lottery. Questions were chosen at random and, compared to the angry demonstrations on Hong Kong’s streets this summer, the atmosphere remained cordial inside the sports stadium where the gathering took place.

But thousands massed outside the venue to chant slogans. Lam received little sympathy from audience members who rounded on her with speech after speech highlighting a litany of complaints towards her administration. Most called on her to launch an independent commission of inquiry into allegations of police brutality and how the protests have been handled.

‘Political blackmail’

Of the 30 people chosen to speak throughout the evening, 24 openly criticised the government, two made neutral comments while four expressed sympathy for Lam’s administration. Both she and Beijing have ruled out any further concessions to protesters, whose five demands include an independent inquiry into police conduct, an amnesty for more than 1,500 people arrested and fully free elections.

On Wednesday, a top Chinese envoy in the city described those demands as “political blackmail”, raising concerns that Lam has been given little wiggle room to de-escalate simmering public anger towards her administration and the police.

Throughout her appearance yesterday Lam resisted making concrete commitments beyond continuing to listen to people and holding more town halls. Lam currently has the lowest approval ratings of any post-handover leader.