HONG
KONG — Pro-democracy demonstrators began easing their blockade of the
offices of Hong Kong’s leader on Sunday and wavered over whether to
abandon another key encampment as the government set a deadline of
Monday morning for the police to restore access to the government’s
headquarters.
It
was unclear whether either concession had the support of any of the
main protest organizations and could be sustained in the face of
criticism by protesters set against compromise. It was also not clear
that the moves would be enough to prevent a confrontation with the
police, who received orders to clear away demonstrations outside
government buildings by the start of the workweek.
The
sit-in campaign, which entered its 10th day, appeared at a crossroads,
plagued by confusion and seesaw reversals among demonstrators exhausted
and increasingly divided over how to proceed.
Hours
after protesters began allowing vehicles to enter and leave the complex
where the offices of Hong Kong’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, are,
student leaders addressing a crowd of supporters said nothing of the
decision but declared that they were not retreating.
Alex
Chow, secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of
the groups at the forefront of the pro-democracy demonstrations, said
the “occupy” sit-ins would continue while the federation opened talks
with the government. He warned that the talks would be suspended if the
government made any attempt to forcefully drive away the protesters.
“A
dialogue is not a compromise,” Mr. Chow said from a stage at the main
protest camp. “We will start arranging talks with the government,
because we understand that there are people in both the government and
here who want to solve society’s problems.”
“We will not back down,” he added.
The
Monday morning deadline set up a possible confrontation between the
passionate and often disjointed protest movement, and a government that,
taking its cue from Beijing, has refused to compromise on the
protesters’ broadly shared demands: Mr. Leung’s resignation and
democratic elections for his successor.
The
police have been given leeway on how and when to enforce the orders to
disperse the demonstrators, said two people with detailed knowledge of
the government’s deliberations, both of whom spoke on the condition of
anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.
Mr.
Leung “has laid down the word: Offices have to be accessible by
tomorrow morning,” one of the two people said. The Hong Kong police are
capable of clearing the streets and would not need help from mainland
Chinese security forces, that person said.
“The
protesters are also looking for a way to stand down, though some
die-hards would remain — minimum force would be used only if needed,”
the person said, adding that the precise time for moving in on
protesters was being left to the discretion of the police.
The
police used tear gas a week ago in an effort to disperse protesters,
but more crowds arrived in response to what were perceived by many as
unnecessarily heavy-handed tactics by the authorities.
Regina
Ip, a pro-Beijing lawmaker and the city’s former top security official,
said the government was prepared to use such forceful measures again to
restore access to government buildings, to ensure local schools can
reopen and to clear roads for traffic. But she acknowledged it would not
be easy. “This won’t be over in a matter of the next few days; it will
drag on for a while,” she said.
Dennis
Kwok, a lawyer and member of the city’s Legislative Council who calls
himself a moderate democrat, said in an interview that people aligned
with the establishment had told him that the police would be sent to
protest zones overnight, with the aim of clearing them. But he said it
was unclear how the police could accomplish that.
“If
they use tear gas, that will bring people into the streets again,” he
said, referring to the aggressive police actions against student
protesters on Sept. 28 that attracted wider public support to the
movement. “The Hong Kong government played its hand so badly. They left
themselves with very few options.”
Hui
Chun-tak, the chief spokesman of the Hong Kong police, appealed to
protesters to remove barricades from the streets and said the police
were “determined to take all necessary actions to restore the public
order.”
A
government spokesman, meanwhile, urged student leaders to clear a
footbridge leading to the main government offices and to allow 3,000
staff members to return to work on Monday. He also asked for roads in
Admiralty, near the government offices, to be reopened so that schools
in the area could resume classes.
The
Hong Kong Federation of Students said a path would be opened for civil
servants. But thousands of protesters have been occupying the roads
around the offices and have blocked the entrances to the chief
executive’s office, and the federation said it was “hard to persuade
protesters to leave when there hasn’t been any progress on their demands
over political reform.”
Some
protesters outside the offices on Sunday night vowed to stay. “I won’t
retreat, unless the police crack down with force,” said Kelvin Chung,
22, a recent graduate from Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology.
Others
were looking for a way out. “This movement can’t last very long;
someone has to compromise,” said Carmen Lee, a politics and European
studies major at the University of Hong Kong. “Students and workers
can’t strike forever. We’ll lose public support over time.”
The
arguments were especially poignant in Mong Kok, the densely populated
neighborhood where a protest encampment came under attack Friday by men
who punched and kicked demonstrators. A hostile crowd of residents,
upset by the inconvenience caused by the sit-in, cheered them on. The
assaults have outraged students, many of whom accused the government of
looking the other way or even hiring the thugs.
After
calls by a host of prominent citizens for them to leave the area,
including a former chief justice, university leaders and church figures,
some protesters in Mong Kok decided on Sunday to move to the main
protest area near the government offices. But later in the evening, the
crowd swelled with young protesters who sat listening to speakers urging
them to stay.
“Mong
Kok is the most important place in our campaign,” said one of the
protesters, Luke Ng, an 18-year-old student. “If Mong Kok can stay
together, then we will win.”
Some
protesters said anger over the police response to the attacks had
undermined chances for a negotiated withdrawal by the movement.
“The
police reaction to the triads has cut off the opportunity to leave,”
said Miu Ying-kui, a sociology student at the Chinese University of Hong
Kong, referring to underworld gangs that the police said some of the
assailants had ties to. “We Hong Kong people have totally lost
confidence in the government, so it’s very difficult for us to step
down.”
Real
decision-making power on the side of the authorities rests in Beijing
with China’s president, Xi Jinping. Since assuming leadership of the
Communist Party in late 2012, Mr. Xi has repeatedly demanded vigilance
against threats to party control and national sovereignty, especially
from Western powers. To the party leadership, the youthful democratic
movement in Hong Kong, a former British colony that has preserved its
own legal system and liberties, embodies those perceived threats.
Mr.
Xi and other Chinese leaders have not spoken publicly about the
eruption of unrest in Hong Kong, but mainland news outlets have stepped
up reports and commentaries describing the movement as a “color
revolution,” a scheme orchestrated by outsiders to challenge party rule
across all of China, using Hong Kong as a bridgehead.
The protesters have responded that their movement is a peaceful, grass-roots campaign, with aims limited to Hong Kong.
“Now
we are students, but in 10 or 20 years, we will be adults and will be
responsible for this society. We need to stand up now and speak,” said
Matthew Yu, 15, who was at the main protest encampment. “Young students
have been told to run if police begin clearing the area, to protect
their safety,” he added, “but some will probably stay.”
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