Global Times Tweets Curfew Alert, Then Deletes It

A Global Times tweet set off a storm of speculation on Thursday that a curfew will be imposed in Hong Kong this weekend, but even before the "news" could be read by many of its 1.5 million Twitter followers, the state-funded outlet deleted its 'exclusive'.

There had been rumours that drastic step are being considered by the Hong Kong government after Chief Executive Carrie Lam held an unusually late meeting with some of her top officials on Wednesday night.

In its tweet, the Global Times said sources had told the newspaper that a curfew will be imposed during the weekend. But as international news agencies flashed the story across their screens, the tweet disappeared, leaving media analysts puzzled.

This came a few hours after NPC Standing Committee member and DAB stalwart Tam Yiu-chung, said a curfew is not really feasible in Hong Kong because there aren’t enough police officers in the city to enforce it.

His party's chairwoman, Starry Lee, had also echoed similar sentiments. The head of the biggest pro-Beijing party in Hong Kong also denied that she had discussed such an option with Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

On Tuesday, the pro-government lawmakers had slammed the administration for not acting quickly to contain the "extremely violent demonstrations".

The CE had been on the receiving end from her critics and allies alike as the anti-government agitation stretched into the six month. But Last Tuesday, President Xi Jinping met Lam in Shanghai and offered her his full support to bring things under control in Hong Kong.

Lam had then gone to Beijing the next day and had held talks with Vice Premier Han Zheng, who also offered support to the CE.