Looks like China blinked first...
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...hina-carrie-lam-protests-latest-a9090966.html
Hong Kong to withdraw China extradition bill as Beijing bows to protesters afters months of demonstrations
Government says Carrie Lam will announce withdrawal at meeting of pro-Beijing legislators
Hong Kong’s chief executive is to announce the formal withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill that sparked weeks of unrest, finally meeting a key demand of the protest movement.
Carrie Lam has called a meeting of pro-
Beijing politicians for later on Wednesday afternoon, at which she will describe the full withdrawal of the bill as “a gesture ... to cool down the atmosphere”, the
South China Morning Post quoted a source as saying.
The news prompted a surge in Hong Kong stocks after it was also reported on the Cable TV news channel and other local media. A government source confirmed Ms Lam would make the announcement at around 4pm local time.
Hong Kong has been experiencing near-daily protests for the better part of 14 weeks, as anger at a proposed new bill allowing extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China spiralled into a broader movement demanding greater democratic rights.
Ms Lam has previously said the now-suspended extradition bill was “dead”, and promised it would not be revived in the current legislative term. But this was not enough to placate protesters, who made the complete withdrawal of the bill a key tenet of their so-called “five demands”. Other demands include an amnesty from prosecution for protesters, and the right to universal suffrage in the election of Hong Kong’s leader.
Last week the Reuters news agency reported that Ms Lam, who was nominated as a candidate for the chief executive role by Beijing and answers to the Central People’s Government, had proposed the full withdrawal of the bill as a way to ease tensions. The report said the central government rejected the idea and ordered Ms Lam not to give in to any other protest demands. It is highly unlikely that she would attempt to withdraw the bill without Beijing’s consent.
It comes after the release of a leaked audio recording showed Ms Lam telling business leaders she took responsibility for unleashing “unforgivable havoc” on the city with the hugely unpopular bill. At the time it was introduced, Ms Lam argued that the extradition bill would prevent criminals from all over the world using Hong Kong as a safe haven.
In the recording, Ms Lam could be heard saying that she would have liked to “quit” as leader if she could. At a news conference on Tuesday, she said she had never tendered her resignation to Beijing and that she saw quitting as “the easier path”. ”Not resigning was my own choice… I have not given myself the choice to take an easier path and that is to leave,” she said.
Meanwhile, the unrest showed no sign of easing on Tuesday night, with riot police and protesters again clashing in an MTR station and outside the Mong Kok police station.
Police fired beanbag guns and used pepper spray to try and get demonstrators to disperse, and TV footage showed one man being removed from the scene on a stretcher after he was apprehended by the police.
Activists shared the footage, and earlier clips showing his detention, as evidence of police brutality. Protest leaders have called for an independent investigation into police tactics during the current crisis as another of their key demands.
The police, who have repeatedly denied using excessive force, did not immediately respond to a request for comment following Tuesday night’s incident.