News Digest

'Umbrella Revolution' activists mark one month on the streets of Hong Kong

A month into the mass pro-democracy protests gripping Hong Kong, the movement is under pressure to keep up momentum—but those on the streets say their vigil has already changed the city for good. On Sept. 28, chaotic street battles in one of Asia’s premier financial hubs saw umbrella-wielding demonstrators choking on clouds of police tear gas as police fired 87 volleys of gas at the largely peaceful crowd. The ugly scenes triggered a wave of anger, with tens of thousands swelling the ranks of those demanding open leadership elections for the semiautonomous Chinese city in 2017. As protests enter a fifth week, protest camps remain sprawled across three major thoroughfares, and protesters are calling on supporters to gather for an evening rally Tuesday night wearing the masks they have used to ward off police tear gas and pepper spray. More than 9,000 people have so far pledged to take part.

Everybody knows now that what they’re being offered is not real democracy—it’s ‘choose your puppet’. The pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong was really moribund until a month ago. It had nearly died on its feet. Now it’s back, with new faces.

Nury Vittachi, veteran Hong Kong watcher

Demonstrators are calling on Beijing to rescind its insistence that candidates standing to be the city’s leader in 2017 must be vetted by a loyalist committee—an arrangement demonstrators deride as “fake democracy”. Student leaders held talks with government negotiators one week ago but made little headway, while a planned poll to gauge the movement’s response to the government was shelved on Sunday. The Chinese government shows no sign of backing down and protest leaders are unsure of how to achieve their goals.