School's out in Hong Kong

Hong Kong students on Monday began a week-long boycott of classes, gathering in their thousands for what democracy activists say will be a wider campaign of civil disobedience against China's refusal to grant the city full democracy.

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Students raise their hands during a democracy strike at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong students on September 22 began a week-long boycott of classes. AFP PHOTO / XAUME OLLEROS

Thousands of Hong Kong students on strike for democracy

HONG KONG, AFP – Hong Kong students on Monday began a week-long boycott of classes, gathering in their thousands for what democracy activists say will be a wider campaign of civil disobedience against China's refusal to grant the city unfettered democracy.

Student activists crowded onto a campus on the northern outskirts of the city, many sheltering from the hot summer sun under umbrellas and waving their faculty flags, as their leaders vowed to ratchet up their campaign if their demands were not met.

A coalition of pro-democracy groups in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, led by Occupy Central, have labelled the restrictions on choosing its leaders a "fake democracy". They have vowed a series of actions including a blockade of the Central financial district.

The city's vocal student community on Monday became the first wing of that coalition to move from protests to direct action – starting a week of class boycotts designed to capture the public's imagination and bolster the pro-democracy fight.

Students gather in their thousands during a strike at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. AFP PHOTO / XAUME OLLEROS

Alex Chow, chairman of the influential Hong Kong Federation of Students, said student groups would intensify their protests if their call for Hong Kongers to nominate their own candidate to lead the city is ignored.

The Hong Kong strike could breathe new life into the democracy campaign, which recently lost some steam after its senior leaders conceded that Beijing is highly unlikely to change its mind whatever they do.

Leaders from Occupy on Monday said they were encouraged by the student turnout.

But in Beijing, the rhetoric in official media has remained unrelenting against any concessions to the Hong Kong democracy movement, which some in the Communist regime see as an insidious threat to their rule of the country as a whole.

"The basic policy of the Chinese government on Hong Kong hasn't changed and will not change," Chinese president Xi Jinping told Hong Kong business delegates on a visit to Beijing Monday.

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