Carrie Lam calls for committee to find out root causes of Hong Kong unrest

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam on Thursday called for the formation of a committee to look into the root causes of the ongoing unrest in the city.

“We are inviting community leaders, experts and academics to form an Independent Review Committee. Preparation work is nearly complete,” she said, adding that the names of the panel members will hopefully be announced next month.

Lam made the remarks at the Legislative Council while taking questions from local lawmakers. The chief executive said she was sad to see the “shocking” level of violence and destruction some radical protesters have brought to the island city.

Since June, Hong Kong has been wracked by often violent anti-government protests that began as dissent against the now-defunct fugitive bill.

“Numerous inaccurate reports and fake information circulated online have seriously damaged Hong Kong’s international reputation for peace, rationality, safety and lawfulness,” Lam said.

She also said that she was worried about the city’s economy given the recent closure of several businesses, hoping that the economy could recover if social order returns back to normal.