Hong Kong protests: Demonstrators threaten more disruption; demand city boss CY Leung step down
Updated about 3 hours ago
Gallery: Hong Kong protests in pictures
* Photo: Protesters gather around the Golden Bauhinia Square before an official flag raising ceremony to commemorate Chinese National Day. (Reuters: Carlos Barria)
* Video: Why Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters refuse to give in (7.30)
* Related Story: Media blackout on 'umbrella revolution' in mainland China
* Related Story: Bus loads of police arrive at Hong Kong protests
* Related Story: Hong Kong protests to escalate on China's National Day
* Map: Hong Kong
Organisers of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have warned they will launch new civil disobedience plans unless the city's leader stands down.
There was little sign of momentum flagging after the fifth day of the student-led protest, whose aim has been to occupy sections of the city in anger at a Chinese decision to limit voters' choices in a 2017 leadership election.
Thousands of people thronged the streets as demonstrations spread to the neighbouring districts of Wan Chai and Causeway Bay, with more demonstrators meeting in Kowloon.
Many had feared police would use force to move crowds before Wednesday's celebrations marking the anniversary of the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
Those fears proved unfounded and police stayed in the background.
The crowds have brought large sections of the Asian financial hub to a standstill, disrupting businesses from banks to jewellers.
There were no reports of trouble on Wednesday, but witnesses said the number of protesters swelled in the evening.
Student leader Lester Shum issued an ultimatum to the city's leader CY Leung: step down or else face wider protests.
"We will escalate the action if CY Leung doesn't resign by tonight or tomorrow night," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"We will occupy more government facilities and offices," he added without elaborating.
"I believe the government is trying to buy more time. They want to use tactics such as sending some people to create chaos so that they would have a good reason to disperse the crowd."
Riot police used tear gas, pepper spray and baton charges at the weekend to try to quell the unrest, but tensions have since eased as both sides appeared ready to wait it out, at least for now.
A government source with ties to the chief executive said Mr Leung and his advisers planned to soften their approach.
"It may take a week or a month, we don't know. Unless there's some chaotic situation, we won't send in riot police... we hope this doesn't happen," the source said.
The Chinese government has justified the approach after US secretary of state John Kerry reiterated calls for Chinese authorities to show restraint towards protesters.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said no country, including the United States, would tolerate "illegal acts that violate public order."
"We believe that the Hong Kong special administrative region's government has the capability to properly handle the current situation in accordance with the law," he said.
Former British governor calls for consultation
Former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten called for a new period of genuine consultation over demands for greater democracy in the former British colony.
"I think we've got to see dialogue replacing tear gas and pepper sprays," Mr Patten, the last British governor before the 1997 handover of the territory to China, told BBC radio.
News of Hong Kong's massive democracy protests has been buried by mainstream and social media in mainland China.
"I think in order to save face for Beijing and for the Hong Kong government, the right thing to do is to embark on a new period of consultation, make it genuine consultation, because there are a lot of very moderate people on the pro-democracy side."
Mr Patten said he believed earlier Hong Kong leaders had probably failed to make Beijing aware of the strength of pro-democracy feeling.
But he dismissed fears of direct Chinese intervention and the possibility of another Tiananmen Square massacre.
"I cannot believe that the Chinese leadership would be so crazy," he said.
"I can't believe that they would act in such a brutal and immoral way," adding that China was concerned about its relationship and image with the rest of the world.
China's foreign minister Wang Yi has hit back at comments from the US, UK and other nations, saying foreign countries should not meddle in China's domestic affairs.
"[Beijing has] very formally and clearly stated its position: Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs. All countries should respect China's sovereignty," Mr Wang said.
Protests spread to Macau and Taiwan
China has dismissed the protests as illegal, but in a worrying sign for the Communist Party leadership in Beijing, the pro-democracy protests have spread to neighbouring Macau and Taiwan.
Protests spread on Wednesday from four main areas in Hong Kong to Tsim Sha Tsui, a shopping area popular with mainland Chinese visitors on the other side of the harbour.
View image on Twitter Sarah Clarke @sarahclarkeabc Follow #
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It would usually do roaring trade during the annual National Day holiday.
Underlining nervousness among some activists that provocation on National Day could spark violence, protest leaders urged crowds not to disturb the flag-raising ceremony on the Victoria Harbour waterfront.
At a ceremony in Bauhinia Square, overlooking the harbour, a beaming Mr Leung shook hands with supporters waving the Chinese flag even as protesters who want him to stand down chanted: "We want real democracy."
China rules Hong Kong under a "one country, two systems" formula that accords it some autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in mainland China, with universal suffrage an eventual goal.
However, protesters reacted angrily when Beijing decreed on August 31 that it would vet candidates wishing to run for Hong Kong's leadership.
Mr Leung has said Beijing would not back down in the face of protests and that Hong Kong police would be able to maintain security without help from People's Liberation Army troops from the mainland.
Protesters of the "umbrella revolution" have dug in, setting up supply stations with water bottles, fruit, disposable raincoats, towels, goggles, face masks, crackers and tents.
ABC/wires
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