STUDENT LEADERS REFUSE TO RETREAT FROM SIT-IN
But demonstrators determined to institute talks with government on political reforms
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s civil servants returned to work, and schools were reopening Monday as a massive prodemocracy protest dwindled.
Student demonstrators say they have taken early steps to begin talks with the government on their demands for wider political reforms, but actual negotiations have not started and many disagreements remain after a week of protests.
At the government headquarters, where some protesters agreed to remove barriers blocking roads Sunday ahead of the government’s deadline to scale back their demonstrations, the scene was orderly as government officials arrived for work.
The crowds had thinned markedly after a week that saw tens of thousands of people fill the streets in peaceful protest. In Mong Kok, another protest site across the harbour where demonstrators had clashed violently with their opponents, a few hundred activists were staying put at the sit-in site.
Some activists disagree with the withdrawal at government headquarters, and an alliance of students say they will keep up their protests until details of the talks are worked out.
“If the government uses force to clear away protesters, there will be no room for dialogue,” Lester Shum, one of the group’s leaders, said.
Alex Chow, another student leader, said he was not worried about the crowd dwindling.
“Because people need rest, but they will come out again. It doesn’t mean the movement is diminishing. Many people still support it,” Chow said.
Barricades were removed outside city government headquarters after officials said they would do whatever was necessary to ensure 3,000 civil servants would have full access to their offices Monday.
The withdrawal appeared to be part of a strategy to regroup in another part of town, as protesters were urged to shift to Hong Kong’s Admiralty district, a central location near the government’s main offices that has served as an informal headquarters for the protests.
Protesters had feared that officials might clear the streets by force, but by Monday it was clear the government was settling for a partial victory in clearing some roads. The government indicated some disruptions were likely to continue.
“To restore order, we are determined, and we are confident we have the capability to take any necessary action,” police spokesman Steve Hui said. “There should not be any unreasonable,
If the government uses force to clear away protesters, there will be no room for dialogue. LESTER SHUM STUDENT PROTEST LEADER
unnecessary obstruction by any members of the public.”
Television footage showed a man shaking hands with a police officer outside government headquarters and the two sides removing some barricades together. About 300 demonstrators stood by outside the government building’s main entrance, but then many sat back down and refused to leave.
“I’m against any kind of withdrawal or tendency to surrender,” said Do Chan, a protester in his 30s. “I think withdrawing, I mean shaking hands with the police, is a very ugly gesture of surrender.”
The situation remained volatile across the harbour in Hong Kong’s Mong Kok district, a shopping area where ugly confrontations broke out Friday and Saturday after opponents of the protesters tried to force them out.
Many demonstrators heeded calls to head home or shift to the Admiralty area. A few hundred, however, remained.
“I don’t know what the next step is, but I will not retreat. The people you see here will not retreat,” said Burnett Tung, an 18-year-old who has served as a volunteer at a food-supply station outside government headquarters all week.
Tens of thousands of people have poured into the streets of the semi-autonomous city since Sept. 28 to protest China’s restrictions on the first direct election for Hong Kong’s leader, promised by Beijing for 2017. The protests are the strongest challenge to authorities in Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
China has promised that Hong Kong can have universal suffrage by 2017, but it says a committee of mostly pro-Beijing figures must screen candidates. The protesters also are demanding the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chunying, the city’s leader. He has refused to step down.