The View | Hong Kong protesters have shown they can paralyse businesses. Now can they lead positive change?

Who would have thought that we would be calling on experts from conflict areas like Northern Ireland to help Hong Kong sort out its troubles? As recently as June, the idea would have seemed crazy. Yet that is where we are today. Even Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi would struggle to find a way out for Hong Kong.

We are in our sixth month of protests. Each month has brought new levels of intensity and fury. The sorts of violence that shocked the city in June and July are now regular occurrences. Dehumanisation of our fellow citizens is commonplace – by both sides. Reduce others to “cockroaches” and “dogs” and “we” no longer need to see “them” as people, individuals with their own private hopes and loves, disappointments and sadness.

Peace comes when opponents talk. Demanding preconditions is a recipe for continued disharmony. Mandela, King and Gandhi achieved success because governments in the end engaged with them, after those governments’ use of confrontation and violence failed. These struggles took decades.

In Hong Kong, we have a government that refuses to engage with people. This refusal to take Hongkongers’ core concerns seriously is at the heart of the turmoil. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has spoken about the difficulty of serving two masters, Beijing and Hong Kong. When it comes to the big issues, Lam, like her predecessors, has cared more about her masters “up north” than the Hong Kong people.

Leadership means taking risks. Leaders who isolate themselves rarely succeed. Winston Churchill did not wait for the Germans to stop bombing before he came up with a response. Lam’s idea of waiting the protests out worked in 2014 but this time, it has not.

It is time for Lam to try something else. Engage the public. Have real dialogue sessions. Take risks. Or just quit. The current strategy is simply not working.