The Americans were very aggressive, while the Chinese were very wishy washy, mouthing platitudes.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham members represent sectors ranging from financial services to logistics and tech) has called on the government to take immediate action to restore business confidence in HK, including a complete withdrawal of the controversial bill that would have enabled extraditions to mainland China.
It suggested the government restore confidence by “formally and completely” withdrawing the extradition bill “to remove any room for continued public doubt” among other measures, it said in a statement.
What I found funny was that this statement was sent following a survey of its members. Only 12% responded to the survey according to the FT yet
“A clear majority of our membership surveyed over the past week said the government needs to address the underlying causes of the protests and not simply to paper over the cracks of social instability with a short-term law-and-order fix,” said AmCham President Tara Joseph.
(BBC report)
Meanwhile, the Chinese comments were pretty mild.
“We hope that… people will stand firm in defence of the rule of law,” a spokesman for the government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said.
Adding “We call on the general public of Hong Kong to be aware of the grave nature of the current situation.”
He condemned “the evil and criminal acts committed by the radical elements” in Hong Kong.
“We noticed he Hong Kong government has earnestly reflected on its inadequacies over its work on the extradition bill, and Carrie Lam said on July 1 she would change her governing style to be more open and tolerant in listening to Hong Kong people’s feedback.”
HK has seen eight consecutive weekends of protests.
