Hong Kong students reaffirm conditions for resumption of talks

On the afternoon of October 28, Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) Zhou Yongkang sent a letter to Chief Executive of Hong Kong (China) Carrie Lam, requesting that both sides set the goal of achieving substantive dialogue results as a premise if they want to carry out the next round of dialogue.

In the letter, Zhou Yongkang said that in the report to the Central Government of China on the opinions of Hong Kong people on political reforms, the Hong Kong government must clearly state the proposal to withdraw the August 31 Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China and propose a multilateral discussion channel towards establishing fair election measures.

Protesters stand guard at a barricade in Mong Kok after clashes with police in the early morning of October 18 (Source: Reuters)

Hong Kong students urgently requested the special administrative region government to arrange direct dialogue between students, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and central officials in charge of Hong Kong-Macau affairs.

The Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Federation of Students also called on the special administrative region government to directly dialogue with protesters and relevant organizations in the occupied area.

Previously, on October 23, HKFS also issued similar conditions to the special administrative region government regarding the content of the report submitted to the Central Government of China.

The request was made two days after Hong Kong government representatives concluded the first round of dialogue with HKFS, in which the Hong Kong government put forward a four-point proposal.

The two most notable points are that the Hong Kong government will submit to the Central Government a report on the opinions of the Hong Kong people after the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China makes a decision on political reform in Hong Kong and establish a multilateral discussion channel on Hong Kong's political reform after 2017.

In another development, also on October 28, the Chinese Communist Party announced that it would prevent "external forces" from interfering in Hong Kong and Macau, and affirmed its support for Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying as well as the special administrative region's government./.

According to VNA