Carrie Lam knew weeks ago what needed to be done to fix this. But she had to ask Emperor Xi for permission and he said No. She attempted to resign. Emperor Xi said no. I don't really understand how "not being able to resign could work, and I have to assume that the Communist Party has her husband and son under their control. I can see no other reason why she (and they) haven't just very publicly quit and gone to the UK (where the husband and son have citizenship, they have property, and she could regain her citizenship).