Hong Kong pro-democracy group admits goal is ‘unrealistic’

Organizers of a pro-democracy group who vowed to take over Hong Kong’s streets admitted Tuesday, September 2, they were powerless to change China’s plan to vet candidates for the city’s next leader, but said their protest would go ahead. The admission came after organizers promised a new “era of civil disobedience” in front of thousands of supporters at a Sunday rally after Beijing crushed hopes for full democracy. The organizers sought to manage public expectation that any change in the city’s political system would be swift. “We have to admit the fact that up to this point it is quite unrealistic to think that our action will change the decision made by Beijing,” Occupy Central co-founder Chan Kin-Man told the Agence France-Presse (AFP). On Tuesday, Hong Kong police arrested at least 22 people during a series of protests against a senior visiting Chinese official.

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