Thread by @KongTsungGan

I was moved by the speeches of ordinary #HK people this evening. In HK, the opportunity to speak truth to power is very rare & these brave, forthright people took full advantage of it. For non-Canto speakers, here are many of their main points. #香港人加油 scmp.com/news/hong-kong…

As expected, the CE had nothing to offer in response to these speakers besides the usual platitudes & repetitions of things she's said many times before. The only news: She promised arrested protesters would no longer be sent to the infamous San Uk Ling detention centre.

Incredible:Lam's rumored to still be in stadium more than hour after forum's end. Why didn't police spirit her out of there immediately? Protesters've occupied Oi Kwan Rd in back of stadium & blocked known entrances & exits. If she leaves now, police'll have to use massive force.

The blocked routes of egress at Queen Elizabeth Stadium, where the #HK Chief Executive is rumored to be trapped inside. (photos: @USPhongkong)

@USPhongkong There really aren't that many people left. Earlier, a few thousand; now, several hundreds. Police must just be waiting for numbers to further dwindle. Govt probably doesn't want bad PR of massive clashes at venue where CE preached 'peace'.

@USPhongkong Carrie Lam & other govt officials finally left Queen Elizabeth Stadium last night at about 1am, nearly 4hrs after end of public forum. Only a few dozen protesters remained. She'd told police she didn't want the bad PR of them forcibly clearing protesters so that she could leave.

@USPhongkong The extraordinary lengths to which #HK govt & police went to hold the public forum: 1 plainclothes security agent per row of participants; nearby hospitals, schools, Jockey Club betting, parking lots closed, cars towed;massive police presence, riot police kept mostly out of sight

@USPhongkong & still #HK govt couldn't resist micro-managing the forum, with a police officer posing as a ordinary citizen who 'feared protesters' & 'felt safe w police'. In spite of this, 23 of 30 speakers were on the side of the protesters & against the government.
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