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Hong Kong: Protests subside as government
deadline to clear streets looms
Passionate student-led protests for democratic reforms in Hong Kong subsided Monday but a few hundred
demonstrators remained camped out, vowing to keep up the pressure on the government until officials show
they are sincere in responding to their demands.
Schools reopened and civil servants returned to work Monday morning after protesters cleared the area outside the citys
government headquarters, where they had gathered for more than a week.
BY: AP
FROM: NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA NETWORK
2 HOURS AGO OCTOBER 06, 2014 6:18PM
Protests subsiding ... A pro-democracy supporter sleeps on a street near government headquarters, occupied by student pro-democracy protesters, on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014,
in Hong Kong. Picture: Wong Maye-E Source: AP
About 25 protesters, mostly students, refused to budge from the site, and some say they plan to stay for as long as they
can. Another couple hundred protesters remained in the Mong Kok area where some scuffles broke out over the
weekend.
OUTRAGE: Shocking images reveal police brutality in Hong Kong
STAYING PUT: Hong Kong protesters issue ultimatum to China
We shall over overcome ... protesters sleep on the streets as the deadline looms. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
A long night approaches dawn in front of the chief executive's
office in Hong Kong. The scene at 4am.
6:08 AM - 6 Oct 2014
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Parts of a main thoroughfare through the heart of the business district remained closed.
Student demonstrators say they have taken early steps to begin talks with the government on their demands for wider
political reforms, but actual negotiations have not started and many disagreements remain.
People starting to come to work, protester occupation of downtown
Hong Kong continues.
6:53 AM - 6 Oct 2014
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Tens of thousands of people, many of them students, have poured into the streets of the semi-autonomous city since
Sept. 28 to peacefully protest Chinas restrictions on the first direct election for Hong Kongs leader, promised by Beijing
for 2017. The protests are the strongest challenge to authorities in Beijing since the former British colony returned to
Chinese rule in 1997.
Stand-off continues ... a student protester pins a yellow ribbon onto the shirt of a friend on the streets near government headquarters. Picture: AFP Source: AP
China has promised that Hong Kong can have universal suffrage by 2017, but it says a committee of mostly pro-Beijing
figures must screen candidates for the top job.
The protesters also are demanding the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, the citys current
leader, but he has refused to step down.
Some activists disagree with the partial withdrawal at government headquarters, and an alliance of students say they will
keep up their protests until details of the talks are worked out. They say they will walk away from the talks as soon as the
government uses force to clear away the remaining protesters.
Alex Chow, a student leader, said he was not worried about the crowd dwindling.
Because people need rest, but they will come out again. It doesnt mean the movement is diminishing. Many people still
support it, Chow said.
Long night ... protesters sleep overnight at the protest site. Picture: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images Source: Getty Images
Some activists disagree with the partial withdrawal at government headquarters, and an alliance of students say they will
keep up their protests until details of the talks are worked out. They say they will walk away from the talks as soon as the
government uses force to clear away the remaining protesters.
Staying put ... the statue Umbrella Man, by the Hong Kong artist known as Milk, is set up at the pro-democracy protest site next to the central government offices in Hong
Kong. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
Protest ... a man shouts at a policeman for not protecting pro-democracy protesters from attacks in Hong Kong. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
Alex Chow, a student leader, said he was not worried about the crowd dwindling.
Because people need rest, but they will come out again. It doesnt mean the movement is diminishing. Many people still
support it, Chow said.
But Louis Chan, who still plans to stay at the government headquarters for as long as he can, is not sure achieving
universal suffrage the students original goal is now likely.
I think it was possible, but now I dont think so because they (the Hong Kong government) dont give any response and
China is also very much against this, he said.
Occupy movement ... pro-democracy protesters stage a rally on a occupied road in Mong Kok district, Hong Kong. Picture: AP Source: AP
SORRY FOR INCONVENIENCE WE ARE CHANGING HONG
KONG
9:22 PM - 5 Oct 2014

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Police said they had arrested 30 people since the start of the protests. Protesters, meanwhile, complained the police
were failing to protect them from attacks by mobs intent on driving them away.
Leung Chun-ying, appeared on television on Saturday evening to urge everyone to go home, saying key roads paralysed
by protesters needed to return to normal by Monday.
The government and the police have the duty and determination to take all necessary actions to restore social order so
the government and the seven million people of Hong Kong can return to their normal work and life, Mr Leung said.
Week-long protest ... protesters stand at barricades on a occupied road in Mongkok district, Hong Kong. Picture: AP Source: AP
Hong Kong - tonight -- the protest is silent, but the signs speak
loudly:
9:41 PM - 5 Oct 2014
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The protests are the strongest challenge to authorities in Hong Kong and in Beijing since the former British colony
returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Defiant ... Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (centre) refuses to resign. Picture: AP Source: AP
Beijing has promised that the city can have universal suffrage by 2017, but it says a committee of mostly pro-Beijing
figures must screen candidates for the top job. The protesters also are demanding Mr Leungs resignation, but he has
refused to step down.
Protest ... thousands of pro-democracy activists jostle with police at an intersection in Mongkok, Hong Kong. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
SOURCE: http://www.news.com.au/world/asia/hong-kong-protests-subside-as-government-deadline-to-clear-streets-looms/story-fnh81fz8-1227080883863