Hong Kong’s leader has said she would not rule out asking for Chinese government help in putting down the long-running protests “if the situation becomes so bad”, but at present she thought city authorities could handle the situation.
Carrie Lam said she had no plans at the moment to use sweeping emergency powers to bring in further laws, after a controversial anti-mask ban inflamed tensions across the city and spurred four days of street protests. The city’s chief executive warned that the city’s economy was entering a “bitter winter”, with the protests badly affecting tourism in particular with visitors in the first week of October – a national holiday in mainland China – down by half. Visitor numbers in July were down 4.8% year on year but in August and September, down by 30% to 40%.
Carrie Lam said she had no plans at the moment to use sweeping emergency powers to bring in further laws, after a controversial anti-mask ban inflamed tensions across the city and spurred four days of street protests. The city’s chief executive warned that the city’s economy was entering a “bitter winter”, with the protests badly affecting tourism in particular with visitors in the first week of October – a national holiday in mainland China – down by half. Visitor numbers in July were down 4.8% year on year but in August and September, down by 30% to 40%.
