HONG KONG: The Chinese central government had rejected chief executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam’s proposal to withdraw the extradition bill and ordered her not to yield to any of the protesters’ other demands at that time, media report said.

According to Reuters, Lam had submitted a report to Beijing that assessed protesters’ five key demands and found that withdrawing a contentious extradition bill could help defuse the mounting political crisis in the territory.

China’s role in directing how Hong Kong handles the protests has been widely assumed, supported by stern statements in state media about the country’s sovereignty and protesters’ “radical” goals.

(Agencies)