(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, pledged to “right away” establish a platform for dialogue with the government’s critics after more than two months of protests.

“The dialogue platform aims to boost understanding and find a way for today’s Hong Kong,” Lam told a briefing Tuesday before a meeting of Hong Kong’s Executive Council. We “hope to see the platform to be open, direct and it will involve people from different walks of life, different political views and stances,” she said.

As clashes escalated earlier this month between police and demonstrators, Lam said dialogue between the two sides could resume after violence stopped. Her briefing came two days after protesters sought to reset their movement with a peaceful mass gathering in the city center.

Protests that began over opposition to controversial legislation allowing extraditions to mainland China have morphed into a wider anti-government movement that includes demands for Lam’s resignation, more democracy and an independent inquiry into the cause of the unrest and use of force by police.

Lam’s previous efforts to reach out to some student leaders were rebuffed after they rejected her conditions on the meetings.

“This is something we want to do in a very sincere and humble manner,” Lam said Tuesday. “Our goal is to make efforts to resolve differences.”

--With assistance from Dominic Lau.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Tan in Hong Kong at ztan39@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen Leigh

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