Jubilant
Hong Kong protesters on Tuesday refused to budge until Beijing agrees
to free elections after tens of thousands turned the city's downtown
into a carnival, with the US leading calls for authorities to show
restraint after crowds were pelted with tear gas.
As morning broke over China's financial hub, tired but defiant
demonstrators celebrated getting through the night without fresh
confrontations with riot police.
They showed no signs of backing down, digging in for a third day of occupying major thoroughfares. Schools in affected areas were again closed and commuters faced disruption, with many bus routes suspended or rerouted and taxis scarce.
The protests have left Beijing grappling with one of the biggest ever challenges to its rule of the semi-autonomous city at a time when the Communist Party is cracking down hard on dissent on the mainland.
The demonstrations, the worst civil unrest Hong Kong has experienced since its 1997 handover from British rule, were sparked by Beijing's decision last month to restrict who can stand for the city's top post.
Hong Kongers will be able to vote for their next chief executive in 2017 elections but only two or three candidates vetted by a pro-Beijing committee will be allowed to stand -- something demonstrators have labelled a "fake democracy" that shows Hong Kong cannot trust its mainland overseers. Read: News in Hindi and Newspaper
They showed no signs of backing down, digging in for a third day of occupying major thoroughfares. Schools in affected areas were again closed and commuters faced disruption, with many bus routes suspended or rerouted and taxis scarce.
The protests have left Beijing grappling with one of the biggest ever challenges to its rule of the semi-autonomous city at a time when the Communist Party is cracking down hard on dissent on the mainland.
The demonstrations, the worst civil unrest Hong Kong has experienced since its 1997 handover from British rule, were sparked by Beijing's decision last month to restrict who can stand for the city's top post.
Hong Kongers will be able to vote for their next chief executive in 2017 elections but only two or three candidates vetted by a pro-Beijing committee will be allowed to stand -- something demonstrators have labelled a "fake democracy" that shows Hong Kong cannot trust its mainland overseers. Read: News in Hindi and Newspaper
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