Opinion | Why any dialogue with protesters is a non-starter as long as Carrie Lam insists on preconditions

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s welcome emergence from self-imposed purdah does not yet signal the adoption of a positive strategy to stop the protests by meeting the demonstrators halfway. Instead, we are seeing public relations gambits like the unannounced visit to a local market and press conferences where she does little more than double down on her refusal to budge on key demands and one-sided criticism of the protesters.

Meanwhile, people are starting to listen more to (and learn more from) China’s policy statements than to those emanating from Government House.

In place of a strategy, we see a commitment to do Beijing’s bidding in using heavy-handed police tactics to crack down on the demonstrations. The underlying presumption is that life will gradually return to normal as the protesters become exhausted and lose public support.

This is a possible scenario. But it is not an acceptable one. Even if the demonstrations peter out – and, with the airport shutdown on Monday, this does not appear an immediate prospect – the five demands will not disappear. The problems that everyone knows underlie the current discontent (unaffordable housing, low pay, lack of democracy) will persist, surging back up in more waves of protest in the future.