Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam formally withdraws extradition Bill

HONG KONG - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Wednesday (Sept 4) formally withdrew a contentious extradition Bill following months of protests.

"The government will formally withdraw the Bill," she said in a pre-recorded address in Cantonese and English that was carried by all major broadcasters in Hong Kong.

It follows a meeting with pro-establishment political figures, the South China Morning Post newspaper and other media reported, citing people they did not identify. The gathering included local legislators and the city's representatives to national legislative bodies.

The meeting follows a weekend of demonstrations that saw some of the fiercest clashes between protesters and riot police. Activists have lobbed petrol bombs and set bonfires in the streets, while police officers fired tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray, making more than 1,100 arrests since early June.

Hong Kong stocks jumped, led by property developers, after news reports said Mrs Lam will formally withdraw the extradition Bill that has sparked months of protests. The benchmark Hang Seng Index surged as much as 3.9 per cent before paring gains to 3.4 per cent at 3.06pm local time.

The turmoil that followed Mrs Lam's attempt to introduce the ill-fated Bill - including mass marches that drew more than 1 million people and protests that shut the city's busy airport - have turned into the biggest crisis for Beijing's rule over the former British colony since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

This article was first published in The Straits Times

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