11th June, 2019
As the City of Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam, continues to push for a bill that will allow people to be sent to China for trial, the City is gearing for more protests and strikes in its rise against the proposed extradition law.
According to REUTERS, Lam’s defiant pledge in the face of more mass protests underscored deep concerns across vast swaths of the Asian financial hub two days after hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest against the bill.
In a rare move, prominent business leaders warned that pushing through the extradition law could undermine investor confidence in Hong Kong and erode its competitive advantages.
The reports say the extradition bill, which has generated unusually broad opposition at home and abroad and plunged the city into political crisis, is due for a second round of debate on Wednesday in the city’s 70-seat Legislative Council (LegCo).
The legislature is said to be controlled by a pro-Beijing majority.
Riot police officers were said to have surrounded the LegCo building early on Monday and fought back a group of several hundred protesters after an otherwise peaceful march through the city’s financial district on Sunday.