The formal withdrawal of the bill might have been enough to appease protesters back in June. But today it meets only one of the protesters’ five demands of the government, which now include walking back the use of the word “riot” to describe the protests, dropping charges against protesters, an independent investigation into police brutality, and universal suffrage. Lam’s move is unlikely to bring an immediate halt to the protests, though it could take some of the wind out of the activists’ sails if ordinary Hong Kongers see it as a major concession.
