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Transcript of remarks by CS at media session (with video)
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     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session at the Legislative Council Complex today (December 10):

Chief Secretary for Administration: I shall say a few words in English. In light of the actions announced by the Police yesterday evening, I want to make a few appeals. In simple terms, what the Police have announced last evening is they will first assist the plaintiff of the injunction order as well as their agents and the bailiffs to execute the injunction order. That is to remove the obstructions on certain sections of the roads covered by the injunction order in the occupied area in Central and Admiralty, and thereafter the Police will move on to clear other obstructions on other parts of the road with a view to reopening all the affected roads so that we could restore social order as early as possible. And I believe that this is the public expectation as well, because the illegal occupation has gone on for more than two months now.

     The several appeals I want to make are: First is I appeal to the protesters who have been illegally occupying our roads to pack up their belongings and to leave the protest sites in the next 20 hours or so. And secondly I want to appeal to parents, teachers, principals and university heads, as well as those who care about the protesters, particularly the students, to contact the protesters and students within today and to persuade them to leave the protest sites. And thirdly I notice that student leaders have sort of invited participants in the early stage of the occupation to return to Admiralty tomorrow. I think this is most undesirable, because once the police operation is under way, and knowing very well that there are some radical elements amongst the protesters, confrontation might become inevitable. So it would not be advisable for more people to come back to Admiralty. For the same reason, the Director of Administration has already informed all the 3,000 staff working in the Tamar headquarters that they do not need to come back to the Tamar headquarters tomorrow.

     The fourth appeal is, understandably, despite all the appeals from various quarters, I suspect there would still be protesters who prefer to stay in the protest site tomorrow. So I will appeal to them that they should abide by what they have said all along, and that is to adopt a peaceful, orderly and non-violent approach with a view to avoiding unnecessary confrontation with the Police. And finally I understand that this is a significant incident which our Hong Kong media as well as overseas media will like to report comprehensively throughout the operation. The Police will do all they could to assist media reporting, but I would appeal to media workers to make sure that your identity can be easily identified so as to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding.

Reporter: Mrs Lam, would you consider any kind of communication, direct or indirect, with the Federation of Students within the next two days, given the development of the whole movement?

Chief Secretary for Administration: I think the important thing now before us is the actions that have been announced by the Police, because this is really in response to public aspiration. Now that the occupation movement has gone on for more than two months, many, many people have said in public and relayed to us their wish that social order should be restored as soon as possible and the blocked roads should be reopened as soon as possible. So this is our first priority for the time being. As far as dialogues with the students are concerned, I have said on several occasions in public that once we launch the second-round public consultations on electoral arrangements for universal suffrage in the selection of the Chief Executive in 2017, I am very happy to meet with all sectors, of course including the student representatives. That message has been conveyed to the students on several occasions.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Issued at HKT 14:10

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