Pro-democracy protesters demanded that Hong Kong’s top leader meet with them on Tuesday and threatened wider actions if he did not, after he said China would not budge in its decision to limit voting reforms in the Asian financial hub.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a speech ahead of Wednesday’s National Day holiday, vowed to “steadfastly safeguard” Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability. He said Beijing believes Hong Kong will “create an even better future in the big family of the motherland.”
China’s government takes a hard line against any threat to its monopoly on power and has condemned the protests as illegal, though so far it has not overtly intervened, leaving Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous government to handle the crisis.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s rejection of the student demands dashed hopes for a quick resolution of the five-day standoff that has blocked city streets, forcing some schools and offices to close. It drew a defiant response from the students.
“If Leung Chun-ying doesn’t come out to Civic Square before midnight ... then I believe inevitably more people will come out onto the streets,” said Alex Chow, secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, the organizer of the university class boycotts that led to the street protests.
Chow said the students were considering various options, including widening the protests, pushing for a labor strike and possibly occupying a government building. The crowds swelled Tuesday night, and a brief cloudburst cooled the air, seeming to energize the protesters, a group of whom shouted “Jiayou,” or “Keep it up,” and waved their cellphones with bright LED flashlights sparkling in the dark.
Leung’s blunt rejection of the demands from the students, who are pushing for him to step down, comes as no surprise. The Chinese Communist leadership is wary of conciliatory moves that might embolden dissidents and separatists on the mainland.
Hong Kong police continued a light-handed approach to the protests, having shifted tactics Monday after their use of tear gas and pepper spray over the weekend failed to drive out tens of thousands of people occupying streets near the government headquarters. The sit-ins instead spread to the financial district and other areas.
“We are not afraid of riot police, we are not afraid of tear gas, we are not afraid of pepper spray. We will not leave until Leung Chun-ying resigns,” Lester Shum, another student leader, shouted to a crowd at Admiralty.
