Photo: screengrab

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and other regional government officials on Tuesday morning attended a ceremony to commemorate the Victory Day of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945).

Tuesday marks the 74th anniversary of the Victory Day. 

Lam attended the ceremony before she met with press to clarify a Reuters report that claims she "would quit if she could." Lam said she had never submitted resignation to the central government and the choice to stay on is her own. She reiterated her confidence to lead the city out of its current crisis.

According to the video clip released by the Hong Kong government on its official website, Lam first held a ceremony to raise the Chinese national flag and then sang the national anthem with the other attendees. Hong Kong police then fired 21 shots in honor of the martyrs.

The ceremony also included a silence tribute, the presentation of wreaths, and bowing. Since 2014, the Hong Kong government has held official ceremonies to commemorate the Victory Day on September 3, but this year, unlike past ceremonies, media were not informed about the event. In response to media enquiries, Hong Kong's Home Affairs Bureau said that in response to recent social conditions and security considerations, media interviews were not arranged for this event.

Apart from Lam and other Hong Kong government officials, Tung Chee-hwa, Vice Chairman of National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Wang Zhimin, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Xie Feng, commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the HKSAR, and Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, former Hong Kong chief executive, also attended the ceremony. 

Global Times