Hong Kong’s leader: Violence will not elicit concessions

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam has dismissed the notion that violent behavior by protesters would elicit concessions from the government of the autonomous Chinese city.

“I have said on many occasions that violence will not give us the solution. Violence would only breed more violence,” Lam told a news conference on Tuesday. “For concessions to be made simply because of escalating violence will only make the situation worse. On the other hand, we should consider every means to end the violence.”

Hong Kong has been rocked by four months of unrest, with marches and at times violent protests, involving petrol bombs, poles, and other objects used as weapons by protesters.

On Sunday night, protesters threw 20 petrol bombs at one police station.

A crude explosive device, which police said was similar to those used in “terrorist attacks,” was also remotely detonated as a police car drove past and officers cleared roadblocks.

A police officer also had his neck slashed by a protester.

An 18-year-old school student was charged with attacking the officer with a box cutter.

The semi-autonomous Chinese territory has been the scene of protests since June, when people took to the streets initially against a proposed extradition bill.

The bill was later withdrawn, but the protests not only continued but also took on an increasingly violent form.

Hong Kong has been governed under a “one-country, two-system” model since the city, a former British colony, was returned to China in 1997.

The protesters want complete separation from mainland China.

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