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03/28/2024 09:18:26 am

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Hong Kong Protesters Pessimistic About Government-Student Talks

Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Protest

(Photo : Reuters/Carlos Barria) A Hong Kong pro-democracy protester sleeps on a street barricade in one of the streets of Mong Kok district, October 20, 2014.

With talks between the leaders of the pro-democracy movement and the Hong Kong government just hours away, protesters are saying they do not see much hope in the results of the negotiation that seeks to end the deepening political crisis in Asia's financial hub.

The dialogue between government officials and representatives of the Hong Kong Federation of Students will be televised at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

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This comes after four weeks of street protests demanding the central government in Beijing for a democratic ballot on choosing the city's next chief executive in 2017.

Beijing earlier slapped its special administrative region with a ruling that limits the city's choice of leader to only three pre-screened candidates.

The protesters decry this Chinese-style democracy as "fake."

However, despite the talk being portrayed as an opportunity for the Hong Kong government and the student protesters to air their demands, many from the pro-democracy movement do not see any hope of a major concession from China.

Even the fiercest critics of the demonstrations agree that without the Chinese government at the table, negotiations are certain to go nowhere, The Huffington Post reported.

One protester told the newspaper that at the end of the day, it is still China that has the last say in matters concerning Hong Kong. He said, the Hong Kong government only sits in the middle and Beijing is unlikely to revise its earlier decision.

Beijing claims it has offered major concessions to the former British colony in the past and has insisted it will not give the protesters the genuine democracy they are demanding for, sources told Reuters.

In remarks that are likely to flare up tensions between protesters and the government ahead of the talks, Hong Kong's chief executive Leung Chun-ying told a news briefing Monday that democratic elections are unacceptable as these empower the poor and the working class. He said democracy gives them a dominant voice in politics, which is precisely what the protesters are seeking.

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