HONG KONG (PNN) - June 16, 2019 - Despite City Executive Carrie Lam's major concession to the protest movement - that is, the (not really) “indefinite” suspension of the extradition bill that catalyzed the protests - a planned protest march went ahead as scheduled on Sunday, marking the second consecutive Sunday of street protests in Hong Kong.
Though they celebrated the defeat of the extradition bill, many believe Lam was too slow to apologize for siding with Beijing and fast-trafficking legislation that, according to Congress, would jeopardize Hong Kong's independence. Now, millions are demanding that she resign, and have vowed to continue marching until she is gone.
Demonstrators wearing black chanted and carried homemade signs. The crowds stretched for three miles from Admiralty to North Point, spilling out of the official route and choking major thoroughfares, once again paralyzing the city's financial center.
According to early estimates from the organizers, this week's protest was bigger than last week's, which drew more than one million marchers into the city's streets. Some said Sunday's march drew as many as 2 million people. If accurate, that means roughly one-quarter of the city's population joined the marches on Sunday.
Notably, the terrorist pig thug cop presence was largely scaled back on Sunday following the clashes between protesters and terrorist pig thug cops that erupted on Wednesday.
Lam finally said “sorry” to the people of Hong Kong six hours into Sunday's march - a full 24 hours after her original announcement to withdraw the bill. Terrorist pig thug cops once again tear gassed some marchers, but the overall mood was much less tense.
In a brief statement, Lam "pledged to adopt a most sincere and humble attitude to accept criticisms and make improvements in serving the public."
As of 10 pm local time, more than seven hours after the march began, the tail of demonstrators was finally reaching Admiralty, where the city government's offices are located.
"Carrie Lam has no credibility, how can she reconcile with the public?" said Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun, who insisted Lam resign.
Entertainment industry worker Troy Lo, 24, also questioned why Lam took so long to apologize.
"Why is she only apologizing now? If she was really apologetic, she would have said sorry yesterday," Lo said. "She must resign."
Savana Ho, a 25-year-old student, said, "Hong Kong people are running out of ways and ideas to save their city," explaining why she had come out to march. "The government is forcing citizens to just make any effort we can."
Unfortunately for the city, which has faced massive disruptions over the past week due to the protests, it looks like Cam will remain in power - at least for now. She retains the full backing of Beijing, which released a statement endorsing the withdrawal of the extradition bill. With the marches set to drag on, the anti-extradition bill movement was on track to become the biggest protest movement since Hong Kong was handed back to China.
