CHINA TOPIX

03/28/2024 07:22:53 am

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Occupy Hong Kong Leaders Implore Protestors to Leave

Tai

(Photo : Reuters) Benny Tai, one of the founders of the "Occupy Central" civil disobedience movement, poses during a rally in Hong Kong. Tai said he would turn himself into the police on Wednesday.

Occupy Central Hong Kong founders Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and Chu Yiu-ming have called for protestors to back off, and have agreed to turn themselves in to the police.

The protest movement is seeking to get China to cancel its plans to screen candidates for the 2017 election for the territory's leadership, and seek a renegotiation of the arrangement between the Hong Kong government and Beijing.

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According to the BBC, Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests are running out of steam and options. After two long months, the movement has gained no ground in terms of concessions from either the Hong Kong or Chinese governments.

Student leader Joshua Wong has announced that he is on a hunger strike to demand talks with the Hong Kong authorities. Wong began his hunger strike on Monday night, along with two other members of his Scholarism group. He said he hopes to talk with the government about "restarting the political reform process," reports BBC News.

"We admit that it's difficult in the future to have an escalated action, so besides suffering from batons and tear gas, we would like to use our body to get public attention," said Wong. "We are not sure if the hunger strike can put pressure on the government, but we hope that when the public realizes about the student hunger strike, they will ask themselves what they can do next."

Hundreds of protesters clashed with police Sunday and Monday nights as they tried to surround government offices in Admiralty. The escalation of the protests was in retaliation against authorities for clearing the Mong Kok camp. The protest sites at Admiralty and Causeway Bay remain.

The city's protesters  attempted to block government officials' access to buildings and offices. Metal barricades and railings as well as plastic cables were set by the demonstrators to surround the city's central government area.

Police officials, on the other hand, defended their side using riot armors, batons, and bottles of pepper sprays with hopes of dispersing the crowd before Monday's rush hour. Forty individuals were arrested in the clash.

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