Hong Kong braced for huge National Day democracy protests
Protesters say the National Day holiday will bring huge crowds on to the streets
As
Hong Kong braces for huge pro-democracy rallies, leader CY Leung has
urged protesters to back electoral reforms set out by Beijing.
Speaking early on the National Day holiday, Mr Leung said Hong Kong should work with Beijing to achieve progress. The protesters want Beijing to withdraw plans to vet candidates for the next Hong Kong leadership election in 2017.
Activists say they expect the biggest demonstrations yet on the streets to coincide with the holiday.
By midday, protesters were starting to fill up the main protests site in the Central business district, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok.
Mr Leung, Hong Kong's chief executive, has rejected campaigners' calls for him to stand down. Chinese President Xi Jinping has reaffirmed Beijing's control over the territory.
'Desirable reform package' Early on Wednesday, Mr Leung attended a ceremony in Hong Kong marking National Day, which celebrates the founding of communist China in 1949.
The flag-raising ceremony went ahead peacefully, as student protesters looked on. The authorities have cancelled a fireworks display that was due to take place later in the day, however.
Addressing officials, Mr Leung said that while people had different ideas about what constituted a "desirable reform package", it was better to have the right to vote than not.
"We hope that all sectors of the community will work with the government in a peaceful, lawful, rational and pragmatic manner to... make a big step forward in our constitutional development," he said.
Beijing ruled last month that it would allow Hong Kong people to elect their next leader in 2017. But the choice of candidates will be restricted to those approved by a pro-Beijing committee - meaning the Chinese government can effectively screen candidates.
Police have been out on the streets for several days but riot police have been withdrawn
CY Leung has appealed to protesters to go home - but many say they are there for the long haul
Police responded initially with tear gas and pepper spray, but riot police later withdrew and since early on Monday the situation has remained calm.
At least three key parts of the city are being blockaded by protesters, including the central business district.
Crowds swelled again on Tuesday night and the demonstrators - who include student groups, supporters of the Occupy Central movement and others angered by the police response - say they are confident of greater numbers on Wednesday.
"I think there will be a massive turnout, over 100,000 people tonight and leading into National Day," Occupy Central activist Ed Chin told AFP news agency.
"We are not afraid of riot police.... We will not leave until Leung Chun-ying resigns,'' student leader Lester Shum told the crowd.
The only members of the public allowed to attend were dressed in red baseball caps and T-shirts, waving Chinese flags. One told me the democracy protesters "had ulterior motives and were marginal anyway".
Police were in attendance to protect both the flag and embattled Chief Executive CY Leung. He reminded his fellow citizens that Hong Kong's special status in China, known as "one country, two systems", means just that. It was an implied rebuke to protestors demanding Beijing overturn its restrictions on nominations for the 2017 leadership election.
The protesters are determined to be seen and heard. Some were outside the ceremony, turning their backs on the national flag.
And less than a mile away, crowds were voting with their feet, streaming into what they're now calling Democracy Square, an encampment filled with umbrellas and a sea of freedom flags. The national flag of China nowhere to be seen.
The protests are seen as a direct challenge to Beijing's grip on the territory's politics. Analysts say leaders are worried that calls for democracy could spread to mainland cities.
News of the protests is being heavily censored in mainland China. Media have blamed "radical opposition forces" for stirring up trouble.
Meanwhile the US restated its position on the protests, saying that a genuine choice of candidates in the election would enhance the legitimacy of the chief executive.
On Tuesday, state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Secretary of State John Kerry would discuss the protests with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi when the pair meet on Wednesday.
- 1997: Hong Kong, a former British colony, is handed back to China under an 1984 agreement giving it "a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs" for 50 years
- 2004: China rules that its approval must be sought for changes to Hong Kong's election laws
- June-July 2014: Pro-democracy activists hold an unofficial referendum on political reform and a large rally, which is followed by protests by pro-Beijing activists
- 31 August 2014: China says it will allow direct elections in 2017, but voters will only be able to choose from a list of pre-approved candidates; activists stage protests
- 22 September 2014: Student groups launch a week-long boycott of classes in protest
- 2017: Direct elections for chief executive due to take place
- 2047: Expiry of current agreements
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