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Hong Kong government withdraws bill that sparked protests

Published:Wednesday | October 23, 2019 | 10:39 AM
In this July 1, 2019, file photo, a protester covers the Hong Kong emblem with a Hong Kong colonial flag after they broke into the Legislative Council building in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities on Wednesday withdrew an unpopular extradition bill that sparked months of chaotic protests that have since morphed into a campaign for greater democratic change.

Secretary for Security John Lee told the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s legislature that the government suspended the bill because it had resulted in “conflicts in society.”

In order to clearly spell out the government’s position, “I formally announce the withdrawal of the bill,” Lee told lawmakers.

Pro-democracy lawmakers immediately tried to question him, but he refused to respond.

There are no signs that the withdrawal of the bill will dampen the protests, now in their fifth month.

The rallies have snowballed into the city’s biggest political crisis in decades, expanding to demands for universal suffrage and an investigation into allegations of police abuses, most recently including the spraying of a mosque and bystanders with high-pressure blue-dyed water from an urban assault vehicle.

The long-expected scrapping of the bill was overshadowed by the drama surrounding the release from a Hong Kong prison of the murder suspect at the heart of the extradition case controversy.

Chan Tong-kai, who completed a separate sentence for money laundering, told reporters after his release Wednesday that he wished to turn himself in to authorities in Taiwan, where he’s wanted for killing his pregnant girlfriend, Poon Hiu-wing.