This archive report was first published on 10 December 2019.
On December 10, 2019, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam ruled out further concessions to the city's pro-democracy movement ahead of her weekend visit to Beijing, despite a landslide election defeat for the government and a peaceful mass march.
The pro-democracy movement, which marked its six-month anniversary on Monday, was initially sparked by a now-abandoned attempt to allow extraditions to mainland China but has since morphed into a popular revolt against Beijing's rule.
On Sunday, around 800,000 people marched peacefully through the city's streets, urging the government to respond to their five demands, including an independent inquiry into the police, an amnesty for those arrested, and fully free elections.
However, Lam refused to accept protesters' demands further to the extradition bill's withdrawal, stating, "If a particular demand requires us to deviate from the law... I could not agree to accept those demands simply for the purpose of reaching people's aspirations."
Lam argued that an amnesty for those arrested would violate the spirit of the rule of law, as more than 6,000 people have been arrested since June, 40 percent of them students.
"How can we completely ignore the rule of law just to fulfil the demands... So we have no way to make the response, but we are still willing to examine the social problems reflected by this incident in hope of relieving residents' grievance," she added.
