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Protesters in Hong Kong Ease Sit-In Near Government Headquarters | Protesters in Hong Kong Ease Sit-In Near Government Headquarters |
(about 2 hours later) | |
HONG KONG — Pro-democracy demonstrators, defiant but their numbers diminished, eased their blockade of Hong Kong government offices and allowed civil servants to return to work Monday morning after the authorities set a deadline for the police to restore access to the buildings. | |
The concession, along with a preliminary agreement by student protesters to open talks with the government over their demands for democratic elections, appeared to have averted an immediate showdown between the demonstrators and the police. But the compromise was fragile, and protest leaders said the sit-ins would continue while they negotiated a framework for the dialogue. | |
The sit-in campaign, which entered its 11th day, appeared at a crossroads, plagued by confusion and seesaw reversals among demonstrators who were exhausted and increasingly divided over how to proceed. At least 1,000 protesters remained encamped on the street in front of the government’s headquarters and in a nearby public park overlooking Hong Kong’s harbor. Hundreds more occupied major thoroughfares in other neighborhoods. | |
“Each day, we don’t know if it will be our last here,” said Lam Ka-shing, 19, a protester who spent the night at a protest camp in the Mong Kok district, using his backpack as a pillow. “There are lots of police, and we didn’t know if they would use violence to force us out.” | |
“I was really scared last night,” he added, “but now the sun is almost out, I feel a lot better. We’ve made it to another day.” | |
Despite the government’s warning that protesters clear the road by morning, Mr. Lam said he had no plans to leave. “There’s no way we would go. They haven’t met our demands,” he said. “If we left now, everything we’ve done would be wasted.” | |
On Sunday night, the protesters began allowing vehicles through a gate leading to the offices of Hong Kong’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying. But hours later, student leaders addressing a crowd of supporters said they were not retreating. | |
Alex Chow Yong Kang, secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the groups at the forefront of the pro-democracy demonstrations, said the “Occupy” sit-ins would continue while the federation opened talks with the government. He warned that the talks would be suspended if the government made any attempt to drive away the protesters forcefully. | |
“A dialogue is not a compromise,” Mr. Chow said from a stage at the main protest camp. “We will start arranging talks with the government, because we understand that there are people in both the government and here who want to solve society’s problems.” | “A dialogue is not a compromise,” Mr. Chow said from a stage at the main protest camp. “We will start arranging talks with the government, because we understand that there are people in both the government and here who want to solve society’s problems.” |
“We will not back down,” he added. | “We will not back down,” he added. |
The Monday morning deadline had set up a potential confrontation between the passionate and often disjointed protest movement, and a government that, taking its cue from Beijing, has refused to compromise on the protesters’ broadly shared demands: Mr. Leung’s resignation and democratic elections for his successor. | |
The police used tear gas a week ago in an effort to disperse protesters, but more crowds arrived in response to what were perceived by many as unnecessarily heavy-handed tactics by the authorities. | The police used tear gas a week ago in an effort to disperse protesters, but more crowds arrived in response to what were perceived by many as unnecessarily heavy-handed tactics by the authorities. |
Regina Ip, a pro-Beijing lawmaker and the city’s former top security official, said the government was prepared to use such forceful measures again to maintain access to government buildings and local schools, and to clear roads for traffic. But she acknowledged it would not be easy. “This won’t be over in a matter of the next few days,” she said. “It will drag on for a while.” | |
Many protesters headed to school or work on Monday, but several said they would return. “I’ll be back after school,” said Lo Cheu-khei, 16. “I think this event should continue.” | |
Dennis Chan, 28, who was distributing supplies to fellow protesters, said the protests had succeeded in pressuring the government to open negotiations — and needed to continue “so the government has to talk seriously with the students.” | |
But Mr. Leung has shown no willingness to compromise on the protesters’ main demands, and even before morning, many protesters worried it would be difficult to sustain their campaign. | |
“I feel lost,” said one student, Billy Ngai, 20. “At the beginning, when I came out, it was for universal suffrage, but tonight we are out because we feel support for the movement is waning. If no one comes out, we will lose.” | |
Others said the protesters should be looking for an exit strategy. “This movement can’t last very long — someone has to compromise,” said Carmen Lee, a politics and European studies major at the University of Hong Kong. “Students and workers can’t strike forever. We’ll lose public support over time.” | |
The discussions were especially poignant in Mong Kok, the densely populated neighborhood where a protest encampment was attacked on Friday by men who punched and kicked demonstrators as a hostile crowd of residents, upset by the inconvenience caused by the sit-in, cheered. The assaults outraged students, many of whom accused the government of looking the other way or even hiring the men, some of whom the police said had ties to underworld gangs. | |
After they were urged to leave by several prominent citizens, including a former chief justice, university leaders and church figures, some protesters in Mong Kok decided Sunday to move to the main protest area across the harbor near the government offices. But later in the evening, the crowd in Mong Kok swelled with young protesters who sat listening to speakers urging them to stay, and about 400 remained in the morning. | |
“Mong Kok is the most important place in our campaign,” said one protester, Luke Ng, an 18-year-old student. “If Mong Kok can stay together, then we will win.” | |
Real decision-making power on the side of the authorities rests in Beijing with China’s president, Xi Jinping. Since assuming leadership of the Communist Party in late 2012, Mr. Xi has repeatedly demanded vigilance against threats to party control and national sovereignty, especially from Western powers. To the party leadership, the youthful democratic movement in Hong Kong, a former British colony that has preserved its own legal system and liberties, embodies those perceived threats. | Real decision-making power on the side of the authorities rests in Beijing with China’s president, Xi Jinping. Since assuming leadership of the Communist Party in late 2012, Mr. Xi has repeatedly demanded vigilance against threats to party control and national sovereignty, especially from Western powers. To the party leadership, the youthful democratic movement in Hong Kong, a former British colony that has preserved its own legal system and liberties, embodies those perceived threats. |
Mr. Xi and other Chinese leaders have not spoken publicly about the eruption of unrest in Hong Kong, but mainland news outlets have stepped up reports and commentaries describing the movement as a “color revolution,” a scheme orchestrated by outsiders to challenge party rule across all of China, using Hong Kong as a bridgehead. | Mr. Xi and other Chinese leaders have not spoken publicly about the eruption of unrest in Hong Kong, but mainland news outlets have stepped up reports and commentaries describing the movement as a “color revolution,” a scheme orchestrated by outsiders to challenge party rule across all of China, using Hong Kong as a bridgehead. |
The protesters have responded that their movement is a peaceful, grass-roots campaign, with aims limited to Hong Kong. | The protesters have responded that their movement is a peaceful, grass-roots campaign, with aims limited to Hong Kong. |
“Now we are students, but in 10 or 20 years, we will be adults and will be responsible for this society. We need to stand up now and speak,” said Matthew Yu, 15, who was at the main protest encampment. “Young students have been told to run if police begin clearing the area, to protect their safety,” he added, “but some will probably stay.” | “Now we are students, but in 10 or 20 years, we will be adults and will be responsible for this society. We need to stand up now and speak,” said Matthew Yu, 15, who was at the main protest encampment. “Young students have been told to run if police begin clearing the area, to protect their safety,” he added, “but some will probably stay.” |