Last updated on: October 06, 2014 1:15 PM
HONG KONG—After more than a week of protests that paralyzed parts of Hong Kong, student leaders have established a framework with government officials to discuss their political reform demands.
The breakthrough comes as intense pro-democracy demonstrations subsided Monday, allowing government workers back into their offices.
Lester Shum of the Hong Kong Federation of Students set the terms of any future talks between city leadership and the protesters in a Monday meeting with a government official.
As part of the framework, the two sides agreed that the Hong Kong government would be required to carry out any deals reached in meetings.
Another preliminary talk will be held between the two sides on Tuesday in Hong Kong.
“Other details like the specific topics and the venue of the talks would have to be worked out at another meeting tomorrow night,” said Shum.
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said Monday that the government is “sincere in having dialogue on constitutional development” with the protesters, who are demanding Beijing not vet the territory’s political candidates.
Simmering demonstrations
As the sun rose Monday over Hong Kong, an incredulous cheer spread among the hundreds of students who had slept the night on the financial district’s streets. Many demonstrators had feared riot police would try to forcibly remove them.
Demonstrators said they believe the reason Leung did not send out forces to clear the streets is because students met one of the leader’s two conditions for negotiations to begin: allowing civil servants back into the central government office complex.
Not all is back to normal in Hong Kong. Some schools and businesses remain closed, and Leung urged people on Monday to leave the Mong Kok district, where violent clashes occurred over the weekend.
The protests are the most serious unrest in Hong Kong since Beijing took control of the former British colony in 1997.
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