The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government is "very sincere" in initiating a platform for dialogue with all members of the public, including protesters, Chief Executive Carrie Lam told reporters on Tuesday.
Lam said some groups have shown willingness to conduct dialogue with the government, adding that communication is underway.
"Violence does not help solve the society's problems," she said, pledging more dialogues with people from different walks of life and with different opinions to solve the "root" of the problem.
"In order to go forward and mend the rift in the society, more dialogues are needed," she stressed.
"We are gearing up to go into the community to have the dialogue directly with people."
Ending violence still a first priority
"Violence should be stopped," Lam said, reiterating that the first priority for Hong Kong is to restore peace and order as soon as possible.
She urged all to stand up and say no to violence, and ask radical protesters who set ablaze city's metro stations and paralyzed airport operation to stop destroying the sophisticated basic infrastructure and connectivity network that took generations for the Hong Kong people to establish.
She also mentioned that the formal withdrawal of fugitive bill declared on September 4 was not directly aimed to stop the violence right away, but to extend her "sincerity to start a dialogue with people".
A senior fellow of Pangoal Institute, Xu Qinduo, told CGTN that Lam's ultimate goal is to engage with the public, to engage with the protesters and to seek ways to stop the violence.
"It's not about stopping the protest or stopping different opinions opposing to the government. It's about ceasing the violence and vandalization," said Xu.
U.S. interference 'unacceptable'
Commenting on some protesters marching to the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong and appealing for the U.S. Congress to pass a bill related to Hong Kong, Carrie Lam said the SAR government never recognized foreign interference in its own affairs, calling for respect from the U.S. side to leave Hong Kong affairs to itself.
"Hong Kong is a special administrative region of People's Republic of China," she reiterated, saying any foreign intervention is unacceptable.
The bill "Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act" was reintroduced by the U.S. back in June.
She also appealed for local residents to stop asking the U.S. government and Congress to get involved in any passages related to Hong Kong.
