Hong Kong’s chief secretary, Matthew Cheung, the city’s No. 2 official, gave his “strongest condemnation” of this weekend’s protests. “If violence is continuing we must stop it, without further ado. No nonsense,” he said. “Society must go back to normal.”

Mr. Lee also criticized members of the public who supported the more extreme protesters.

“Rationalizing or tolerating these serious acts of violence will turn into approving of violence and encouraging violence, making the violence spread, pushing Hong Kong to the brink of malfunctioning,” he said. “Yet in society there are instances where society acquiesces to violence. So I urge Hong Kong civilians to collectively say no to violence, and safeguard Hong Kong’s order and rule of law.”

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, told a group of businesspeople that she would resign if she could, but had no choice in the matter, Reuters reported Monday.

“If I have a choice, the first thing is to quit, having made a deep apology,” she said, according to a recording obtained by the news agency.

Mrs. Lam added that she had very little room to maneuver, because the political crisis had become an issue of national security and sovereignty during a time of tension between China and the United States. She added that the central government had “absolutely no plan” to deploy the Chinese military in Hong Kong, and that Beijing had set no timetable for resolving the crisis by the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, on Oct. 1.

The protests began over a government proposal, since suspended, that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese control in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” model, with far greater civil rights protections than mainland China. But many people felt the extradition plan would undermine that.

The protesters’ demands have since grown to include an independent investigation into the police use of force, amnesty for arrested protesters and expanded direct elections.