INTERNATIONAL human rights organisations are calling on Asean to pressure Myanmar into allowing the ethnic group to participate in the process of their safe return.

Asean could persuade Myanmar to take effective steps to improve the situation on the ground first, said Laura Haigh, a researcher on Myanmar affairs at Amnesty International.

“Asean has failed to respond to the scale and gravity of the crisis, and this marks a stain on the bloc’s credibility,” Haigh told The Nation yesterday.

She added that Asean should use its influence to push for a full and unfettered humanitarian access to Myanmar’s Rakhine state, hold them accountable for the atrocities and remove restrictions on the Rohingya – particularly on their free movement that has prevented them from accessing education, healthcare and places they rely on for livelihood.

“Asean should also make clear that there must be accountability for the atrocities and join international calls for Myanmar to be referred to the International Criminal Court,” she said.

Amnesty International has huge concerns about the repatriation process, not least because Rohingya refugees have yet to be consulted and included in the discussions, she said.

“As it stands, Rakhine state is not a safe place – there has been virtually no accountability for the atrocities, and the apartheid system, which stripped the Rohingya of their rights, remains in place,” she said. Haigh also noted that their return cannot be safe, voluntary or dignified until the Rohingya are included in discussions about their future.

Asean officials should themselves take time to speak to the Rohingya, Matthew Smith, co-founder and chief executive of Fortify Rights, said

“A lot of people are talking about the Rohingya returning to Myanmar, but none of those people are Rohingya themselves. That needs to change,” he said.

“The Rohingya deserve a seat at the table, whether the issue is humanitarian aid, accountability and justice, return of refugees or any other issue affecting their lives.”

‘Wilful denial of truth’

Smith said Asean must provide an accurate assessment of conditions in Rakhine, which he considers an apartheid state where mass atrocities are taking place.

“To pretend the environment is conducive for the return of the refugees is a wilful denial of the truth,” he said.

Asean should also hold the perpetrators of human-right violations in Rakhine state accountable, he said, adding Myanmar officials only trust Asean on issues related to Rakhine.

If Myanmar is serious about repatriation, it should also amend the 1982 Citizenship Law so that Rohingya people have full access to citizenship, he said.

He added that the authorities should close down existing internment camps, lift restrictions on freedom of movement and cooperate with international investigators and prosecutors so those responsible could be made accountable.

“At this point, any talk of repatriation is a farce. Myanmar wants the world to believe it’s done nothing wrong and that it’s welcoming the Rohingya with open arms. The reality is nasty,” he said.

“Any returns would have to be voluntary, safe and dignified, and Myanmar is not prepared to offer any of that.”

Aung Tun Thet, chief coordinator at the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, told The Nation yesterday that Myanmar had already opened the doors for returnees.

“Bangladesh and some international organisations have long accused us of our attitude towards the Rohingya. This is not strange because they always rely on such political attacks,” he said.

“No matter how hard we try to ensure peace and stability in Rakhine state, they will keep on talking like this. So, we don’t mind what they talk about, what we really mind is finding the best possible way to welcome back the returnees.”

According to a recently leaked report jointly conducted by Myanmar and Asean, the nation aims to accept between 500,000 and 740,000 refugees within two years.

When asked if this was an ambitious target, Aung Tun Thet said, “This comes from systematic research, and we are all trying to make the whole process smooth. We see no reason to assume it is impossible.

“But, it will entirely depend on the returnees themselves. We have created a better environment for them, ensuring some job opportunities once they return. It is now up to them whether or not they will return to lead a better life,” he said.

Making recycling “fun and sexy” is what Taiwanese entrepreneur Arthur Huang hopes to achieve through his mini Trashpresso – a mobile recycling plant that converts plastic waste into consumer products such as coasters and candlemakers.

The Trashpresso consists of a 12m container housing a solid waste processing line.

It is the first innovation of its kind to be showcased in Singapore and was displayed at a Recycle Right event in Toa Payoh on Saturday (June 15). The Trashpresso compacts the recycling process into three steps – reducing the size of the plastic waste, purification and reshaping.

Likened in appearance to a “candy-making machine” by Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor, it can transform 135 grams of pellets or recycled flakes into a set of three colourful hexagon-shaped coasters in less than 10 minutes.

Speaking at the Toa Payoh HDB Hub atrium, Dr Khor noted that Mr Huang’s company Miniwiz has been “innovative in converting waste materials into beautiful products”.

“If you recycle right, you can turn trash into treasure,” she said. For instance, when used bottle caps are shredded into plastic flakes and placed into the Trashpresso, they are transformed into coasters after the three-step process.

“This will help extend the life of these materials. … This is what we call a circular economy approach. Giving our waste plastic a second lease of life,” she said.

Recycling right has taken on new urgency as the amount of waste disposed of in Singapore has, in the past 40 years, jumped seven times to 7.7 million tonnes last year – enough to fill 15,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools – and the contamination rate of the blue recycling bins is at a high 40 per cent, Dr Khor said.

Even though the country incinerates its waste, if Singaporeans continue to waste resources at the current rate, the country’s only landfill at Semakau will run out of space by 2035.

To help Singapore in its efforts towards becoming a zero waste nation, the answer may lie in decentralising the recycling process, said Mr Huang, founder and chief executive of Miniwiz, which develops recycled plastic materials for use in building construction, interior design and consumer products.

Founded in 2004, the company moved its headquarters to Singapore last November. It has an R&D centre in Taiwan, a manufacturing plant in Shenzhen, as well as an office each in Beijing and Milan.

“Four years ago, we wanted to create a machine that rewards people for recycling,” said Mr Huang, who developed it with his team.

“The idea is to get it closer and closer to consumers. We are now in talks with many shopping malls and hotel chains in Singapore, which produce a lot of trash for recycling.

“We are planning to launch the mini Trashpresso and the smart trash collecting Robin system in Shanghai in October. But there will be a mini Trashpresso set up in Singapore. We are still deciding whether we should make it automated, or let humans do the recycling.”

The Robin is a trash sorting system that allows users to track and earn points if they sort the waste correctly.

Recycling right is not difficult or time consuming, Dr Khor said.

“First, read the labels on the blue recycling bins … and we will be changing this so it is even clearer … to find out what recyclables you can put in,” she said. Clothes, toys, shoes and pillow cases are not recyclable.

“Second, make sure your recyclables in blue recycling bins are clean and dry. Any packaging with food or liquids will contaminate the other recyclables. This will waste the efforts of other Singaporeans who are doing their part.

“Third, you do not need to sort the materials that you put into the blue bins. We practise a co-mingled recycling system.”

Dr Khor explained that this means recyclables will be sorted centrally at material recovery facilities after they are collected from the blue bins.

Organisers said some two million people — more than a quarter of the population — marched in tropical heat on Sunday calling for the resignation of chief executive Carrie Lam and protesting against a bill that would have allowed extraditions to the Chinese mainland.

Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong (L) leaves Lai Chi Kok Correctional Institute in Hong Kong on June 17, 2019. // AFP PHOTO

    Hundreds were still blocking a road outside Lam’s office on Monday, demanding dialogue with the authorities.

The city has witnessed unprecedented scenes with two record-breaking rallies a week apart punctuated by violent clashes between protesters and police armed with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Wong, the poster child of the huge pro-democracy “Umbrella Movement” protests of 2014, became the latest voice to call for Lam’s resignation as he was released from a sentence imposed over his leadership of those demonstrations.

“She is no longer qualified to be Hong Kong’s leader,” said Wong, who was sent to prison in May but released early for good behaviour. “I will also fight with all Hong Kongers to oppose the evil China extradition law.”

Opposition to the extradition bill united an unusually wide cross-section of Hong Kong in recent weeks, from influential legal and business bodies to religious leaders.

And while the spark for the last week of protests has been the threat of extradition to China, the movement has since morphed into the latest expression of public rage against both the city’s leaders and Beijing.

Protesters gather again to rally outside the Legislative Council government offices against a controversial extradition bill in Hong Kong on June 17, 2019.  // AFP PHOTO

Many Hong Kongers believe China’s leaders are stamping down on the financial hub’s unique freedoms and culture.

They point to the failure of the “Umbrella Movement” to win any concessions, the imprisonment of protest leaders, the disqualification of popular lawmakers and the disappearance of Beijing-critical booksellers, among recent examples.

Critics feared the Beijing-backed extradition law would entangle people in China’s notoriously opaque and politicised courts and damage the city’s reputation as a safe business hub, sparking unprecedented protest turnouts.

In an interview with HK01 on Monday, Lam’s top advisor Bernard Chan said no chief executive would dare reintroduce the bill now.

The estimate for Sunday’s massive rally has not been independently verified but if confirmed it would be the largest demonstration in Hong Kong’s history.

Police, who historically give far lower estimates for political protests, said 338,000 people turned out at the demonstration’s “peak” — still their largest crowd estimate on record.

Beijing, meanwhile, reiterated its backing of Lam, saying it would “continue to firmly support the chief executive and efforts by the government of the Special Administrative Region to govern according to law”.

  – Xi Jinping dealt a blow

But analysts say China’s powerful president Xi Jinping has been dealt a rare setback with the suspension of the extradition law — although they warned Beijing would bite back by tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city.

“It’s a massive repudiation of the idea that Hong Kong will be effectively, over time, fully absorbed into mainland China,” said Bill Bishop, publisher of the Sinocism China Newsletter.

“You will see a redoubling of efforts by the party to squeeze Hong Kong in ways that are not necessarily going to be totally obvious,” he said.

The violent crowd control measures on Wednesday, used by police as protesters tried to storm the city’s parliament to stop the bill being debated, have proved enormously costly for Lam’s government.

“I think she has lost any remaining credibility or legitimacy to rule in Hong Kong because of her own mishandling of this whole affair,” lawmaker Charles Mok told RTHK Radio.

Protesters have called on her to resign, shelve the bill permanently and apologise for police using tear gas and rubber bullets on Wednesday. They have also demanded all charges be dropped against anyone arrested.

“We will have to stay here till Carrie Lam changes her mind,” said Candy, 32.

But others weren’t sure if Lam’s resignation would make a difference given Beijing’s hold on the city.

“The Chinese government will just send another Carrie Lam and there will be no change,” fumed Kok, a 21-year-old design student.

On Saturday, police told local media that Yang may face criminal charges if the allegation that he threatened a whistleblower turns out to be true. Yang could be summoned for questioning if the whistleblower offers testimony regarding the allegation.

The whistleblower in question — identified only as a woman — had revealed via her social media account that the YG founder coerced her to commit perjury to hide the fact that she had delivered drugs to former iKON member B.I. She said she is currently abroad and will return to Korea soon. B.I. left the band Wednesday after an allegation emerged in local media that he had purchased illegal drugs three years ago.

On Tuesday, the whistleblower filed a complaint against YG with the Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission, saying Yang pushed her to change her testimony involving the former songwriting leader of iKON.

According to lawyer Bang Jeong-hyun, who represents the whistleblower, even after the witness told police about having done drugs with B.I, police did not carry out an investigation into the artist. Bang claimed that Yang had threatened the witness to retract her statement about B.I.

Police said Yang may also be charged with concealing crimes if he is found to have known about YG stars’ alleged drug use.

According to the whistleblower’s account, delivered through her lawyer, YG has drug test kits for its artists and staff members, suggesting the company is highly sensitive to drug scandals.

But it seems unlikely that YG would deliver drug test results to police. Rather the kits were speculated to be used to help prevent scandals and avoid police investigations.

Yang resigned from all his posts at YG on Friday and strongly denied all accusations. “The truth of the current media reports and rumors will be revealed through future investigations,” he said.

His brother, Yang Min-suk, who was serving as CEO of YG, also announced his resignation in an email statement, saying he hopes YG will have a better future.

Despite the resignations of the two top figures at the agency, doubts about YG’s future remain. Yang Hyun-suk still holds a 16.12 percent stake in YG stocks as the largest shareholder. The Yang brothers together own a stake of around 20 percent in the beleaguered agency.

Meanwhile, an online news report has claimed that Lee Seung-hoon, a member of YG boy band Winner, might have served as a go-between for the agency and the trainee involved in Yang’s alleged cover-up, citing mobile messages it claims to have acquired.

YG has denied the claim in a statement, saying Lee was not involved in the scandal and that the allegation over his role is groundless.

In March, YG suffered a critical setback due to the high-profile scandal involving Seungri, who left Big Bang over a police probe into allegations that he arranged sex services for foreign investors.

YG has been under fire over drug allegations surrounding its artists in recent years, including G-Dragon and T.O.P of Big Bang and Park Bom of the now-defunct 2NE1. Rapper-songwriter Kush and a stylist, both of whom are represented by YG, were also involved in an illegal drug use case.

Meanwhile, the latest crisis engulfing YG and its artists is feared to have a negative impact on the wider K-pop industry, which is finally beginning to see its influence spread internationally at a rapid clip, spurred by the global popularity of BTS and other leading artists.

The K-pop industry might suffer lasting damage to its reputation if similar drug allegations continue to flare up or if the authorities fail to properly investigate the ongoing events.

Some K-pop fans are leaving comments on online websites that YG should pull out of the entertainment scene because the agency and its artists are undermining the global stature of K-pop.

An online petition was recently posted on the presidential Blue House website asking that YG artists be blocked from appearing on TV and cable programs.

Over the past two decades, YG has emerged as one of the top three agencies, along with S.M. Entertainment and JYP, touting its “free-spirited” artists. However, it is now confronting a make-or-break crisis due to the scandals that have generated a slew of questions about its business practices.

The accident happened at around 1:00 am Monday (1800 GMT Sunday) when the coach swerved into oncoming traffic on a toll road in West Java, smashing into two cars and causing a truck to roll.

Some 43 people were injured in the multi-vehicle accident and rushed to hospital, police said.

“In the middle of the journey, a passenger attempted to forcibly take control of the steering wheel… and the bus then lost control,” Atik Suswanti, the head of the Majalengka police traffic unit, told AFP.

    The 29-year-old passenger was severely injured, according to authorities. It was not immediately clear if the bus driver survived.

Traffic accidents are common in the Southeast Asian archipelago, where vehicles are often old and poorly maintained and road rules regularly flouted.

In September, at least 21 people died when a bus plunged into a ravine in West Java’s Sukabumi region.

The “Birth of a Genius” exhibition brings together the best of the Picasso Museum Paris, Laurent Le Bon, the museum’s president told AFP.

Featured works include paintings, sculptures and drawings, and are accompanied by photos of the young Pablo in Barcelona and Paris.

The first Picasso exhibition in China was held in 1983, timed to coincide with a

Beijing visit by then French president Francois Mitterrand. Just 33 pieces of art were put on display.

    This year’s exhibition, which runs until September 1 at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, focuses on the artist’s first 30 years.

“We have tried to show the great masterpieces like the blue Self Portrait, for example, that hardly ever leave the museum, and display them alongside a more multidisciplinary Picasso,” Le Bon said.

The Spanish artist’s “blue period” from 1901 to 1904, which focused especially on the poor and marginalised, such as prostitutes and drunks, features prominently in the selected works, added exhibition curator Emilia Philippot.

“These are very political subjects in a way,” she said.

Transporting all the works to China brought its own challenges.

The insurers for the works, which are valued at more than 800 million euros ($900 million) insisted that the pieces travel on seven separate planes, the organisers said.

The containers were supposed to contain only paper scrap, according to the customs documents. Instead they were loaded with other waste including bottles, plastic waste, and diapers, said senior environment ministry official Sayid Muhadhar.

“This is not appropriate and we don’t want to be a dumping ground,” Muhadhar told AFP.

The five containers — owned by a Canadian company — were shipped from Seattle in the United States to Indonesia’s second biggest city Surabaya in late March, Muhadhar said.

It was not immediately clear where the rubbish originated from.

Indonesia is currently examining several other containers in Jakarta’s port and the city of Batam on the island of Sumatra.

It is the latest country to return imported rubbish after neighbouring Malaysia vowed to ship back hundreds of tonnes of plastic waste last month.

The Philippines has ordered tonnes of garbage dumped in the country to be shipped back to Canada, sparking a diplomatic row between the two countries.

For years China received the bulk of scrap plastic from around the world, but closed its doors to foreign refuse last year in an effort to clean up its environment.

Huge quantities of waste have since been redirected to Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Indonesia and to a lesser degree the Philippines.

Around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year. Much of that ends up in landfill or in the seas, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The rumblings of a small group of protestors outside were soon drowned by Dr Mahathir’s off-the-cuff speech inside the Cambridge Union Society hall that took the audience from the British rule narrative to the present-day woes faced by the country and the world.

Some of the attendees noted the talk was not much different from the one in Oxford Union because the nonagenarian was steadfast on his stand on many issues, including on the Israel regime that had carved out its own state on the expense of Palestine, the atrocities suffered by Palestinians, as well as Malaysia’s stand on LGBT.

He also once again highlighted how Malaysia shifted its focus from the West to the East, and the fear of marginalisation of the smaller countries by the bigger nations.

“For example, in Parliament the speaker is not allowed to speak. Malaysia is a member of the Commonwealth but there is nothing much in common with the wealth dominated by certain countries. The British acknowledged the Malay sultans as rulers but the sultans never ruled. Therefore, when they criticise us as dictators, I don’t think they really mean it,” he said much to the laughter and applause of the audience.

According to Bernama, after the speech, when host Adam Davies asked about his return to active politics, Dr Mahathir had this to say; “I came back because the very same opposition that used to call me a dictator decided that I should be their leader, at their request and not mine”.

And Dr Mahathir’s reply to the last question from the floor also drew laughter. When he was asked whether the Pakatan Harapan coalition would be returned in the next election, he replied: “It depends on you, if you vote for us, we will return”.

Also in attendance during the talk was Dr Mahathir’s wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, and Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman. Among those who joined the crowd were Cambridge undergraduates, Malaysian undergraduates and Malaysians in UK.

Southeast Asian leaders assembling for the Asean Summit in Bangkok this coming weekend will discuss a range of issues including Indo-Pacific strategy and the Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership (RCEP), and possibly Myanmar’s Rohingya crisis, Thai officials have said.

The summit on Saturday and Sunday has as its theme “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability”. It is expected to generate a string of policy statements including direction on marine debris and an “Indo-Pacific Outlook”.

Prayut Chan-o-cha, royally endorsed as prime minister last week, will chair the summit despite not yet having a Cabinet in place.

Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, who has served in the military-backed government since August 2015, will assist Prayut on both the substance and protocols of the gathering. He has hinted he might leave office after the summit.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who is in charge of national security affairs, is expected to complete security plans for the summit today.

They will include the deployment 10,000 police officers at key locales in the capital, said deputy police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul. Srivara declined to say whether intelligence officials had detected any cause for concern.

The leaders of Asean and its regional partners will not soon forget the summit held in Pattaya a decade ago, when anti-government red-shirt protesters stormed into the meeting venue, forcing a hasty evacuation.

Srivara said traffic intersections on Wireless, Phloen Chit and Sarasin roads would be closed over the weekend to facilitate the movements and security of summit participants.

Suriya Chindawongse, director general of Asean affairs at the Foreign Ministry, confirmed that the leaders of all 10 member-nations would attend.

He described the gathering as an “in-house summit”, with no leaders of partner states in attendance. He could not say whether Myanmar’s troubles regarding Rakhine state will be among the issues discussed.

“What we can say is that Asean, notably under Thai chairmanship, gives importance to the situation in Rakhine,” Suriya told reporters.

“At the retreat meeting in Chiang Mai in January, it was agreed for the first time that the group’s role in providing humanitarian assistance to Myanmar, facilitating the repatriation of [refugees] and fostering sustainable development in Rakhine should be enhanced.”

The regional bloc, of which Myanmar is a member, has worked out tentative plans for the repatriation of the Rohingya who fled violence at home and took refuge in Bangladesh.

Asean Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi led an assessment team on a visit to Rakhine late last year, resulting in a report circulating among Asean ministers. Further instruction is awaited, an Asean source said.

As to Indo-Pacific strategy, Asean will issue its “Outlook” paper at the end of the summit, taking into account competing efforts by both China and the United States, the world’s major powers, to expand their influence in the region.

Suriya said Asean was striving to secure shared benefit for all stakeholders amid the shifting geopolitics straddling both the Pacific and Indian oceans.

He cited the bloc’s leading role in formulating the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and its firm stance in advocating connectivity and sustainability in linking the oceans.

On the economic front, Asean is seeking to conclude negotiations over the RCEP, the world’s biggest economic bloc, under Thailand’s chairmanship by the end of this year. But an economics official said the prospects for doing so are not promising.

Established in 2013, the RCEP has representation from 16 economies – all 10 Asean countries plus Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea. They have formalised 20 chapters of a pact aimed at liberalising trade and services but have found agreement on only seven, said Oramon Sapthaweetham, director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s Department of Trade Negotiations.

“Since the member-countries are determined to reach a conclusion this year, we remain hopeful that we can at least complete a significant portion during the next summit in November,” she said. In Bangkok this weekend, the Asean leaders will seek common ground on how to move the RCEP process forward, Oramon said.

PROGRESS ON POLICY 

Documents to be noted

Asean Framework of Action on Marine Debris

Chiang Mai Statement of Asean Ministers Responsible for CITES and Wildlife Enforcement on Illegal Wildlife Trade

Concept Note and Terms of Reference for the Network of Asean Associations of Asean State Members

Asean Labour Ministers’ Statement on Future Work: Embracing Technology for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth

Report of the Secretary General of Asean on Asean Work

Report of Executive Director of the Asean Foundation

Report of APSC Council

Report of AEC Council

Report of ASCC Council

Documents to be adopted

Asean Leaders’ Vision Statement on Partnership for Sustainability

Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris in Asean

Region

Asean Leaders’ Statement on the Asean Cultural Year 2019

An Asean Indo-Pacific Outlook

Documents to be issued

Chairman’s Statement of the 34th Asean Summit

Press Statement on Asean Centre for Military Medicine

Press Statement on the Launch of Asean Satellite Warehouse in Chai Nat Province under the Disaster Emergency Logistics System for Asean (DELSA)

Source: Compiled by The Nation

Protesters chanted “Scrap the evil la!” as they marched through the streets to pile more pressure on chief executive Carrie Lam, who paused work on the hugely divisive bill Saturday after days of mounting pressure, saying she had misjudged the public mood.

Crowds of black-clad protesters were marching from a park on the main island to the city’s parliament — a repeat of a massive demonstration a week earlier that organisers said more than a million people attended.

Critics fear the Beijing-backed law will tangle-up people in China’s notoriously opaque and politicised courts and damage the city’s reputation as a safe business hub.

“Carrie Lam’s response is very insincere. Knowing that the government won’t withdraw the bill, I decided to come out today,” said protester Terence Shek, 39, who had brought his children on the march.

The city was rocked by the worst political violence since its 1997 handover to China on Wednesday as tens of thousands of protesters were dispersed by riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

“You’re supposed to protect us not shoot at us” read one banner carried on Sunday, addressing the city’s police force, while others marching held photos of police breaking up crowds in Wednesday’s clashes.

Lam stopped short of committing to permanently scrap the proposal Saturday and the concession was swiftly rejected by protest leaders, who called on her to resign, permanently shelve the bill and apologise for police tactics.

“The extradition bill being suspended only means it can be revived any time Carrie Lam wants,” said activist Lee Cheuk-yan.

Nearly 80 people were injured in this week’s unrest, including 22 police officers, and one man died late Saturday when he fell from a building where he had been holding an hours-long anti-extradition protest.

He had unfurled a banner saying: “Entirely withdraw China extradition bill. We were not rioting. Released students and the injured”.

Huge queues formed outside the high-end Pacific Place mall with flowers and written tributes piling up as demonstrators paid their respects.

Suspending the bill has done little to defuse simmering public anger and protest organisers have called for a city-wide strike Monday as well as Sunday’s rally.

Jimmy Sham, from the main protest group the Civil Human Rights Front, likened Lam’s offer to a “knife” that had been plunged into the city.

“Carrie Lam’s speech yesterday in no way calmed down public anger,” he said.

 ‘Restore calm to the community’ 

Lam’s decision to press ahead with tabling the bill for debate in the legislature on Wednesday — ignoring the record-breaking crowds three days earlier — triggered fresh protests, which brought key parts of the city to a standstill and led to violent clashes with police.

Opposition to the bill united an unusually wide cross-section of Hong Kong, from influential legal and business bodies to religious leaders, as well as Western nations.

The protest movement has morphed in recent days from one specifically aimed at scrapping the extradition bill to a wider display of anger at Lam and Beijing over years of sliding freedoms.

A huge banner hanging from the city’s Lion Rock mountain on Sunday read “Defend Hong Kong”.

Lam had been increasingly isolated in her support for the bill, with even pro-Beijing lawmakers distancing themselves from the extradition proposals in recent days.

The Chinese government said suspending the bill was a good decision to “listen more widely to the views of the community and restore calm to the community as soon as possible”.

– ‘Keep the heat on’ –

Critics were also angry that Lam missed repeated opportunities to apologise for what many saw as heavy-handed police tactics.

Police said they had no choice but to use force to meet violent protesters who besieged their lines outside the city’s parliament on Wednesday.

But critics — including legal and rights groups — say officers used the actions of a tiny group of violent protesters as an excuse to unleash a sweeping crackdown on the predominantly young, peaceful protesters.

“The pro-democracy group will not stop at this point, they want to build on the momentum against Carrie Lam,” political analyst Willy Lam told AFP. “They will keep the heat on and ride the momentum.”

Protest leaders have called for police to drop charges against anyone arrested for rioting and other offences linked to Wednesday’s clashes.

Activist Lee said opponents feared reprisals by the government and wanted assurances “that our Hong Kong people, our protesters, are not being harassed and politically prosecuted by this government”.

Lam has argued that Hong Kong needs to reach an extradition agreement with the mainland, and says safeguards were in place to ensure dissidents or political cases would not be accepted.