We don’t need help of Chinese forces to quell HK unrest: Lam

Bloomberg

Hong Kong’s leader said her government can handle unrest without assistance from Chinese forces, and still wants to hold talks with protesters despite a flare up in violence.
“To this day, the SAR [Special Administrative Region] government is still confident it’s able to solve the disturbance that’s gone on for two months,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam told a regular briefing before a weekly meeting of her top advisers. Lam was responding to a question about whether declaring a state of emergency was more effective than calling in the Hong Kong garrison of China’s People’s Liberation Army, amid concerns Beijing will seek to intervene more directly in quelling the city’s unrest.
Beijing issued its most direct warning yet, saying in a Xinhua News Agency commentary that the central government had the legal authority and responsibility to intervene militarily to halt what it said had become a “colour revolution,” even though analysts said such a move remained a last resort.
Tensions flared as the former British colony was rocked by a 12th straight weekend of pro-democracy protests, beginning with the formation of a peaceful human chain across the city and ending two days later with police firing a weapon and using water cannons. Clashes resulted in 86 arrests and left 21 officers injured. There are calls for another mass protest march this weekend.
“Some thought there’d be no more basis for dialogue after this weekend’s escalation of protests, but my colleagues and I are still doing our best to construct a platform for dialogue,” Lam said.
Public confidence in Lam has sunk to its lowest since she took office, according to the latest survey released by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Program. Only 17 percent of 1,023 people interviewed expressed confidence in Lam, down from 20 percent in a similar survey earlier this month. Satisfaction and trust in Hong Kong’s government fell to its lowest since the city returned to Chinese rule in 1997, the poll found.
Lam convened 19 senior leaders and community figures to discuss how to broker a dialogue with protesters. Lam and her Chinese overseers have refused to make any concessions until the turmoil subsides.

Ex-Hong Kong leader promotes bounties on anti-China rioters
Bloomberg

Hong Kong’s former leader took to social media to promote a website offering cash bounties to identify protesters who have perpetrated vandalism and violence, including the defacing of Chinese flags and national emblems, as unrest rocks the city.
Leung Chun-ying, who governed the former British colony between 2012 and 2017 and was in power during earlier pro-democracy protests in 2014, posted a link on his personal Facebook page that promised a crowd-funded bounty and anonymity to potential tipsters.
The website, 803.hk, is named after an incident in which a demonstrator flung the Chinese flag into the water of Hong Kong’s harbour. It features requests for information on protesters who have lashed out at symbols of China’s authority as demonstrations opposing Beijing’s grip on the city continue. In Hong Kong, it is illegal to desecrate the national flag or emblem, with punishment ranging from a stiff fine to three years in jail.