2014-09-23
Students attend a lecture at Tamar Park as part of the activities of a week of strikes in Hong Kong, Sept. 23, 2014.
AFP
Hong Kong student protesters scuffled with police in a bid to speak to the city's chief executive as their anti-Beijing strike entered its second day on Tuesday, with police threatening some could be charged with public order offenses after trying to push forward en masse.
Several members of the influential Hong Kong Federation of Students had their identification checked by police after the scuffle, which took place as Leung attended a meeting of the territory's cabinet amid ongoing pro-democracy protests.
Police at the scene said the students had been "disturbing public order," during the brief shoving contest, and that they didn't rule out the possibility of pressing charges.
Meanwhile, thousands of students and supporters held a program of open-air "democracy classrooms" in Tamar Park, a green area outside the Hong Kong central government offices, calling on Leung to come out and hold a face-to-face dialogue with them, Federation chairman Alex Chow told RFA.
"C.Y. Leung is avoiding dialogue, and if he refuses to come to Tamar Park to meet directly with the students in the next two days, then the civil disobedience campaign will escalate," Chow said.
However, Leung's spokesman said the chief executive had been willing to talk to students and hear their concerns. "But the students suddenly rushed forward," he said. "It is hard to have a rational and balanced discussion with them, which is why he decided not to go in the end."
Leung told reporters ahead of a meeting of the executive council that he "recognizes" the demands of the students.
"I totally recognize the university students' demands, and their aspiration to have the chief executive chosen in a one-person, one-vote universal election," he said.
But he said Beijing's Aug. 31 announcement that all potential election candidates must be vetted by a hand-picked committee was final.
"According to the National People's Congress (NPC) standing committee decision, Hong Kong's chief executive will be elected by one-person, one-vote elections in 2017, and that is considerably more democratic than having them elected by a 1,200-person committee," Leung said, in a reference to the system under which he was elected.
He added: "We must increase our level of democracy still further, and I hope everyone will move forward together to achieve this."
Democratic politicians and campaigners have slammed the NPC's election framework, which will be reviewed by the U.N. human rights body next month, as "fake universal suffrage."
Student movement
As Leung spoke, students began a series of public lectures on democracy in the park, including such topics as electoral reform for Hong Kong, social movements, and urban planning.
