Govt Pretending This Is A Legco Tussle: Claudia Mo

The pro-democracy camp's convenor Claudia Mo on Tuesday accused the government of pretending that the ongoing tussle over proposed extradition laws is a "legislative issue" and not about the public's distrust of the mainland judiciary.

"They pretend the whole thing is a legislative issue and it's got nothing to do with the Hong Kong people's or the universal distrust and lack of confidence in the Chinese judiciary," she said.

The opposition's spokeswoman was speaking after Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said Legco should resolve the deadlock by itself and repeated the government's stance that they welcome views from any political party.

Mo said Cheung's remarks were "embarrassing". He is actually telling Hong Kong people that they couldn't care less, the opposition lawmaker said.

"They pretend this is some factional fight inside the legislature," Mo said. "This is so utterly, utterly pretentious."

Democratic Party lawmaker James To said the chief secretary's response shows that the government is "burying its head in the sand".

He said this was down to Chief Executive Carrie Lam's "narrow vision" in handling the extradition bill saga.

"This is a political crisis. This is not a technical problem. We do not need a technical solution. We need political grit, a conciliation moment," To said.

He said a political leader with wide vision would be able to look forward and sit down with people holding different opinions to solve such a problem.