A pro-democracy protester walks at a main road in the occupied area of the Causeway Bay district in Hong Kong, Nov. 5, 2014.
November 05, 2014 2:13 AM
HONG KONG—Students calling for full democracy for Chinese-ruled Hong Kong are hoping to take their protest to Communist Party rulers in Beijing and are expected to announce details of their new battle plan on Thursday.
The move signals a shift in the focus of the protests in the former British colony away from the Hong Kong government which has said it has limited room for maneuver.
But China is highly unlikely to allow any known pro-democracy activists into Beijing, especially if the trip coincides with this weekend’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Beijing.
“I think one of the ways we can solve this problem is to go to Beijing personally and have a direct dialog with Beijing officials on this matter since the (Hong Kong) government claims that all decisions have to be passed up to the NPC,” Alex Chow, leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), said last week, referring to China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress.
Pro-democracy protesters
The protesters blocked key roads leading into three of Hong Kong’s most economically and politically important districts for weeks.
The campaign drew well over 100,000 at its peak and hundreds remain camped out at the main protest site in Admiralty, home to government offices and next to the main financial district.
The HKFS has not yet said whether its planned trip was to coincide with APEC, which would mean, if allowed, it would take place in front of an audience of world leaders.
