Embattled Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said Tuesday she has no intention of stepping down in order to end the heated anti-government demonstrations that have shaken the city for three months, and rejected reports that China's leaders had stopped her from quitting, saying she wanted to solve the city's political quagmire herself.
Lam was responding to a Reuters news agency report about a voice recording in which she told a group of business leaders last week that she had caused "havoc" for introducing a controversial extradition bill that sparked the protests. She told the group that she would apologize for actions and resign "if I have a choice."
But Lam told reporters Tuesday she "had not even contemplated" discussing her resignation with Chinese leaders. When asked if Beijing was stopping her from resigning, Lam said she has "never tendered a resignation to the central people's government." She said the release of the recording was "unacceptable."
Hong Kong residents said the recording only confirmed what political scientists and protesters have said: that despite Hong Kong's separate constitution, Beijing runs the city. Any end to the political crisis would come at Beijing’s behest.
Some have expressed concerns about a possible Chinese military intervention similar to its crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
In the recording, Lam sought to assure business leaders that the Beijing government “has absolutely no plan to send in the PLA” or People’s Liberation Army."
Source : VOA