OREANDA-NEWS. China’s central authorities respect and understand the decision of the Hong Kong administration to suspend consideration of an extradition bill. This was announced on Tuesday during a briefing by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Gen Shuang, commenting on the statement by the head of the administration of Hong Kong, Kerry Lam, about the document’s viability.

“The government of the People’s Republic of China, on June 15, when the authorities of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced the decision to suspend consideration of the extradition bill, expressed respect and understanding regarding this step. I have nothing more I could add”, the diplomat said.

Earlier, the head of the administration of Hong Kong confirmed the prospects of refusing to promote an unpopular extradition project, which caused mass protests in the city. Speaking on Tuesday, she publicly acknowledged that he is "unviable". At the same time, she did not clarify whether her statement means the consent of the authorities to once and for all abandon this initiative and never to return to it in the future, which the demonstrators demanded.

A month ago, in Hong Kong, mass protests broke out against a bill initiated by local authorities, which aims to set up a mechanism for extraditing Hong Kong to mainland China for prosecution of people suspected of violating the laws of the PRC or wanted. Opposition supporters fear that innovation may extend not only to defendants in criminal and corruption cases, but also to human rights defenders.

Lam, whose rating fell to a record low, had already twice publicly apologized for the crisis, recognizing the flaws in the work of the government. Under public pressure, she announced the decision to remove this issue from the current agenda for an indefinite period, but this didn't stop a wave of protests.