Pro-democracy protesters blocked the road at the Mongkok shopping center district in Hong Kong on Oct. 10 after the government called off talks with the protesting students. This led to the protesters' vow to intensify the protests in Hong Kong.
Based on a Washington Post report, the Hong Kong government backed out of talks with students leading the pro-democracy demonstrations on Oct. 9, for the reason that they were not prepared to discuss the protesters' basic demands for democracy. The authorities also cautioned that the unlawful occupation of the streets must end before significant negotiations could start.
The failure for Hong Kong government talks set the stage for further confrontation between the pro-democracy protesters and the administration. And the failed negotiations could spark further crisis into the street demonstrations that had been steadily decreasing last week.
Shortly after the Hong Kong government's announcement, student leaders immediately responded by calling back onto the streets on Friday evening to add new pressure on the administration. Several thousands of people gathered at the main protest site to listen to student leaders swore to continue the crisis.
According to the University World News report, Hong Kong Chief Secretary Carrie Lam separately announced the cancellation of the talks on Thursday after the Hong Kong Federation of Students called on Hong Kong citizens to take to the streets, announcing a fresh upsurge of civil rebellion. Lam added that such calls were against the principles of the talks and that positive dialogue would be impossible.
Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) Secretary General Alex Chow said that street demonstrations would continue until the government responded to the students' demands. Even after the talks were agreed earlier in the week, the barricades still remained on the streets. Chow also snubbed the government's suggestions that the students were being unreasonable or impractical in their demands.
Both the government and the pro-democracy protesters had accused the other of "undermining trust" in the proposed talks. Students complained that Lam had failed to come up with a venue for the negotiations, indicating that she had never been sincere about them.
Even before the talks failed, pro-democracy protesters privately said they did not believe the government was serious. They said they did not expect the Hong Kong government to give way on essential points to allow elections in Hong Kong.
Observers said that by failing to take the negotiation talks seriously, the government had given the students a fresh protest call, just like what transpired when the police fired tear gas on the protesters last week that strengthened the entire movement.
French Center for Research on Contemporary China Director Sebastian Veg called the Hong Kong government's decision "terribly irresponsible." He also said that the protesters needed to devise a new strategy.
"I believe there are a range of technical compromises that can be reached between the students and the government, but the government has consistently demonstrated ill will in simply acknowledging the students' demands," Veg stated.
Extensive demonstrations, which urged thousands of Hong Kong residents to come out on the streets in support of the students, continued for almost two weeks, but weakened substantially by Oct. 6, when student groups said they were nearing agreement to engage in talks after HKFS leaders met with Hong Kong government representatives at the University of Hong Kong.
The government has been cautious to talk only with the student groups over the 2017 elections and not political pro-democracy groups who are supporting them. But Hong Kong diplomats said failure to take the students seriously would mean the focus could change to the pro-democracy groups, including in the legislature and may lead to further intensive crisis.
Hong Kong-based European Union nations' representatives conveyed concern about protests in their annual scheduled meeting with Hong Kong legislators this week. Democrat legislator Helena Wong, who attended the meeting, said the diplomats expressed hope of a positive outcome from the negotiations with students.
The iconic image of the Hong Kong protests started on Sept. 22 as a university boycott and heightened when students raged the premises of the government headquarters on Sept. 28, where protesters used umbrellas to defend themselves when police fired pepper spray and teargas on them.
If the government continued to disregard their demands, the pro-democracy protesters vowed to intensify demonstrations in Hong Kong. And the failure for negotiation talks could just lead to the more serious and significant number of movements.
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