Hong Kong media outlets have taken to producing mock “missing person” notices for the city’s chief executive who hasn’t made a public appearance in more than a week despite the still ongoing crisis over an extradition bill that would allow suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial.
Carrie Lam’s last press conference came on June 18th, at which she offered her “most sincere apology” and announced the suspension, but not the withdrawal, of the controversial bill.
Since then, executive council meetings have canceled, demonstrators have surrounded police headquarters, and Hongkongers have petitioned the consulates of G20 nations but Lam has remained mysteriously quiet.
Some speculate that Lam’s silence comes down as an order from Beijing, which doesn’t want any sort of escalation in Hong Kong with the G20 summit in Japan about to take place.
Carrie Lam’s not been seen in public for a week, & since the 1st mass march on June 9, just 2x (+ a propaganda interview). A very Communist-style removal of a top official from the public eye in a time of crisis. It’s said #CCP doesn’t want her to inflame #HK again ahead of G20. pic.twitter.com/E1zf5HMVeQ
— Kong Tsung-gan / 江松澗 (@KongTsungGan) June 25, 2019
As you might expect, this whole crisis has not done wonders for Carrie Lam’s favorability rating.
According to the latest survey conducted by the University of Hong Kong’s Public Opinion Program, Lam’s support now stands at 32.8 percent, that’s down a whopping 10.5 percentage points from two weeks ago and makes her the least popular Hong Kong chief executive since the city was handed over to China in 1997.
Of course, two weeks from now, she could well set another historic low if things continue as-is.
