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Hong Kong leader moves to quell violent protest, says controversial extradition deal is ‘dead’

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Hong Kong leader moves to quell violent protest, says controversial extradition deal is 'dead'

In a bid to quell violent protests which has lingered for long, embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that the controversial extradition bill that sparked the city’s biggest political crisis in decades was dead.

Carrie Lam also declared that her government’s work on the bill is a “total failure” as she admitted that “there are still lingering doubts about the government’s sincerity or worries whether the government will restart the process in the legislative council”.

“So, I reiterate here, there is no such plan, the bill is dead,” Lam told a news conference.

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However, University students who have made up the bulk of protesters shrugged off Lam’s latest comments, saying nothing more than a full withdrawal of the bill will do.

“What we want is to completely withdraw the bill. She is playing word games,” said Chan Wai Lam William, General Officer of the Student Union of Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Demonstrators have called for Lam to resign as Hong Kong’s Chief Executive (CE), for an independent investigation into police actions against protesters, and for the government to abandon the description of a violent protest on June 12 as a riot.

“It is not a simple thing for CE to step down, and I myself still have the passion and undertaking to service Hong Kong people,” she said when asked about the protesters’ demands.

“I hope that Hong Kong society can give me and my team the opportunity and room to allow us to use our new governance style to response to people’s demand in economy and in livelihood.”

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