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               Hong Kong to Launch New Talks on Electoral Reforms

   by VOA News

   Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying says the government will
   launch a new round of talks on electoral reform shortly, following a
   weekend of violent clashes between police and pro-democracy
   demonstrators.

   Leung spoke Sunday as riot police barricaded city streets around
   government headquarters to block in thousands of protesters who have
   launched a mass civil disobedience protest to demand genuine democratic
   reforms for the former British colony.  He gave no timeframe for
   consultations

   Organizers of "Occupy Central with Love and Peace'' said early Sunday
   that the occupation of the streets outside government headquarters has
   officially begun.  The mass protest had originally been planned for
   Wednesday.

   The announcement came hours after riot police in Hong Kong arrested
   dozens of student protesters who forced their way into government
   headquarters late Saturday.

   Police clashed several times throughout the night with hundreds of
   protesters who forced their way through a security gate or scaled a
   tall fence to enter a square in the government complex.

   Authorities used pepper spray to disperse the protesters and hauled
   away those who refused to leave the square.  Outside the grounds, a
   large crowd of fellow students chanted at police and demanded that they
   stop arresting their comrades.

   Police said several people suffered minor injuries in the clashes.

   Pro-democracy activists were outraged after China last month ruled all
   candidates for the 2017 vote must be approved by a pro-Beijing
   committee.

   Thousands of university students have stayed away from classes all week
   to take part in the pro-democracy campaign.

   China has vowed to continue the so-called "one country, two systems"
   plan implemented following the hand-over of Hong Kong from Britain to
   Beijing in 1997.

   Under the initiative, residents of Hong Kong have been allowed more
   freedom than on the mainland, but many residents say that freedom is
   eroding.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/hong-kong-to-launch-new-talks-on-elec
   toral-reforms/2465039.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/hong-kong-to-launch-new-talks-on-electoral-reforms/2465039.html