Hong Kong leader says she’d quit if she could, according to leaked tape

During a closed-door meeting last week, Hong Kong’s chief executive told a group of business leaders that she deeply regretted pushing the controversial extradition bill that sparked the demonstrations, but insisted that it had been her decision to do so.”If I have a choice,” she said, speaking in English, “the first thing is to quit, having made a deep apology.””This is not something instructed, coerced by the central government,” Lam said during the 24-minute recording, Reuters reported. “This has proven to be very unwise given the circumstances,” Lam added. “And this huge degree of fear and anxiety amongst people of Hong Kong vis-à-vis the mainland of China, which we were not sensitive enough to feel and grasp.”For a chief executive to have caused this huge havoc to Hong Kong is unforgivable.”Protests began in June over the extradition bill — which would have allowed people accused of crimes in China to be extradited to the mainland — but have since mushroomed into a broader pro-democracy movement and a push for an inquiry into alleged policy brutality. Lam has since apologized for the now-shelved bill, but pressure has been growing for her to find a way out of the political crisis, which has begun to severely impact the city’s economy. According to the leaked audio, Lam said that China was “willing to play long” and ride out the unrest — even if it negatively impacted Hong Kong’s economy and tourism — and that Beijing was aware of the possible reputational damage if it sent troops in to shut down protests.”They know that the price would be too huge to pay,” she said, according to the recording obtained by Reuters. “They care about the country’s international profile.”It has taken China a long time to build up to that sort of international profile and to have some say, not only being a big economy but a responsible big economy, so to forsake all those positive developments is clearly not on their agenda.”In response to the leaked audio, Lam’s office said in an email to CNN that Hong Kong’s chief executive “attended last week two events with the presence of, among others, business people. For both events, it was explicitly made known, and the attendees understood, that the Chatham House Rule applied.”The Chatham House Rule is an understanding that participants of a meeting may report the information divulged, but not reveal the identity of the speaker or any other participants.Lam’s office said as a result, it was “therefore not in a position to comment on what the chief executive has said at those events.”CNN has also reached out to China’s Hong Kong-Macao Affairs Office for comment.Lam also told business leaders that her inability “to offer a political situation in order to relieve the tension” was her “biggest sadness,” according to the audio recording obtained by Reuters.She said that while it is not the time for “self-pity,” she was frustrated that she could not “reduce the pressure on my frontline police officers” or is able to “pacify the large number of peaceful protesters who are so angry with the government, with me in particular.”Lam added that it had taken a toll on her personal life. “Nowadays it is extremely difficult for me to go out,” she said. “I have not been on the streets, not in shopping malls, can’t go to a hair salon. I can’t do anything because my whereabouts will be spread around social media.”Hong Kong entered its 13th consecutive weekend of unrest on Saturday and Sunday, which saw violent clashes and unauthorized protests, as well as choked access to the city’s International Airport.