Beijing says will ‘firmly support’ Hong Kong leader Lam

Beijing reiterated its backing of Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam yesterday. Although Lam offered a rare concession on Saturday, she stopped short of committing to permanently scrapping the unpopular law. Her gesture was swiftly rejected by protest leaders who called on her to resign, shelve the bill entirely and apologise for police using tear gas and rubber bullets earlier in the week. But Lam -- the first woman to get the international financial hub’s top job -- continues to enjoy support from the Chinese leadership.

“The central government will continue to firmly support the chief executive and efforts by the government of the Special Administrative Region to govern according to law,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular briefing. “Many facts have shown that foreign governments and even some politicians have been making inflammatory remarks since the decision of the Hong Kong government to start amending the extradition ordinance in February,” Lu said.