Hong Kong protesters suggest talks with Beijing

HONG KONG — Student democracy activists who have occupied Hong Kong streets for a month suggested today (Oct 28) that direct negotiations with senior Chinese Communist Party officials could be a way to end their standoff with the local government.

The protest leaders said they want the Hong Kong government to convey their demands for greater democracy to Beijing. If that’s not possible, then they want to arrange a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and other officials so they can get their views across.

They laid out their demands in an open letter to Hong Kong’s No 2 official after the students and the government held talks last week that were mostly fruitless.

The student leaders are struggling to maintain momentum after aborting a weekend street referendum intended to shore up support. Organisers said they scrapped the vote because they hadn’t adequately consulted with the public.

Protesters have been occupying main streets in three neighbourhoods across Hong Kong since Sept 28, when police unleashed tear gas in a failed attempt to disperse thousands of them trying to rally outside government headquarters.

Beijing has decreed that a committee will screen candidates for inaugural 2017 direct elections to choose the semiautonomous Chinese city’s leader, angering many who call it fake democracy. Protesters want Hong Kongers to be able to name candidates of their own choosing.

Protesters marked a full month of their movement with an evening rally that began with the unfurling of umbrellas and a moment of silence that lasted 87 seconds — one for every round of canister fired by police. AP