Hong Kong's embattled leader defiantly rejected demands to resign and sent his deputy to talk to pro-democracy demonstrators, as huge crowds rallied outside his government's besieged headquarters early Friday for a fifth consecutive night. Huge throngs who have shut down central areas of the city with mass sit-ins all week had set a midnight deadline for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to step down and for Beijing guarantee the former British colony full democracy.
But moments before the deadline was set to expire, Leung appeared before reporters and flatly rejected those demands. "I will not resign because I have to continue with the work for elections," he said, referring to upcoming polls in 2017 which are at the centre of the ongoing confrontation between demonstrators and the Beijing-backed city authorities.
In a concession Leung said he would appoint Chief Secretary Carrie Lam to lead discussions with the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of multiple groups involved in the ongoing demonstrations. On August 31, China said Hong Kongers would be able to vote for their next leader but that only two or three candidates vetted by a loyalist committee would be allowed to stand. Demonstrators have dismissed the decision as "fake democracy" and have vowed to keep people on the streets for as long as it takes.
Loud boos and jeers echoed across the main protest site as Leung's words were relayed through a series of loudspeakers, AFP reporters said. "I don't think talking to Carrie Lam will solve the problem," student protester Karen Man told AFP. "We asked to talk to CY, not his deputy. We're peaceful and he has nothing to be afraid of." However, Leung's offer of talks appeared to have mollified protest leaders, who had vowed to escalate their occupation of major sites if their demands were not met.
"It is the first time since August 31 that a minister has agreed to talk to students and citizens. This is a critical moment," student leader Lester Shum told the crowds, according to the South China Morning Post, as he called on protesters to avoid confrontations with police. Occupy Central, the main protester group, said it welcomed the offer of talks with students, adding it hoped they would "provide a turning point in the current political stalemate", but reiterated its calls for Leung to step down. Earlier tensions had soared around the besieged government headquarters, after police were seen transporting tear gas and rubber bullet rounds, causing widespread alarm and anger within the crowds. "The more people are here, the safer we are," Heiman Chan, 25, told AFP, adding he rushed down to the main protest site after seeing photos of the rubber bullet barrels on Facebook. "We're not going to leave this space for anything. If they use tear gas we'll run back and hold a new area, if they use rubber bullets we'll have to run a little faster," he added.
Throughout the night students had been debating whether or not to fully occupy Lung Wo Road, one of the few remaining carriageways around the government complex - an act that would leave it completely surrounded. After Leung spoke, brief scuffles broke out among protesters as a handful of demonstrators tried to close the road, held back by a much larger crowd who berated them.
Police meanwhile warned protesters late Thursday that anyone rushing their cordons or attempting to break into the besieged government offices would meet "resolute enforcement actions". China has strongly backed Leung and pledged support for Hong Kong police over the protests, which pose a huge political challenge at a time when the Communist Party is cracking down hard on dissent on the mainland.
In an editorial to be published Friday People's Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece, repeated Beijing's unbending response to calls for free elections. "There is no room to make concessions on issues of important principles," the paper said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
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