Carrie Lam: Bill is 'officially dead'

(Patria) – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam stated that the controversial extradition bill is 'dead', but she has not officially withdrawn it.

The bill has caused a political crisis in Hong Kong accompanied by mass protests.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Lam stated that her 'heart was broken' by the conflicts caused by the proposed bill, which she described as a 'failure'.

Lokman Tsui, a professor of journalism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, believes that 'officially dead' is neither a legal nor a political term. 'It is still unclear whether the bill has been withdrawn, and we can only assume that it has, given that she has not yet uttered those words,' Tsui claims, adding on Twitter that 'if it is already dead on all counts, why not say those words and officially withdraw it?'

Others are of the opinion that Lam is merely referring to the government's previous decision to suspend the bill.

Although her statement is not enough for the agitated residents of Hong Kong, Lam was clear enough when she said that 'people will no longer have to worry about discussions on the bill being resumed in the current legislature,' and that 'when the current legislature expires in July next year, the bill will also automatically expire.'

However, it seems that the trust of Hong Kong residents in their leader Carrie Lam, whom they see as a Beijing pawn, has also 'expired', and they have also demanded her resignation, among other things. The distrust only grew when she refused to support an investigation into the use of force by the police in suppressing protests.

At the same time, Lam agreed to meet with a group of protesters, which is contrary to previous customs of closed-door discussions, writes The Guardian.

Most Hong Kong residents perceived the extradition bill to China as an attack on the autonomy of this territory, which was promised to Hong Kong within the framework of the 'one country, two systems' principle when the former British colony was returned to China in 1997. They are concerned that Beijing will misuse the extradition law to deal with dissidents and political activists.