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Thousands of Chinese college students including these students rallying Monday at the Chinese University of Hong Kong are protesting Beijing's restrictions on voting reforms. (Anthony Kwan, Getty Images)

HONG KONG Thousands of Hong Kong college and university students boycotted classes Monday to protest Beijing's decision to restrict voting reforms, the start of a weeklong strike that marks the latest phase in the battle for democracy in the southern Chinese city.

The strike comes as dozens of the city's tycoons and business leaders paid a rare group visit to Beijing to meet with China's Communist leaders, who want to bolster support from Hong Kong's pro-establishment billionaire elites for the central government's policies on the semiautonomous city.

Student organizers are dismayed over Beijing's decision in August to rule out open nominations for candidates under proposed guidelines for the first-ever elections for Hong Kong's top leader, promised for 2017.

Discontent over democratic reform is especially acute among Hong Kong's young people, who worry about their prospects amid widening inequality they blame on billionaire tycoons whose companies control vast parts of the economy and who have Beijing's ear.

The National People's Congress, China's legislature, insists election candidates be vetted by a committee. Many of the tycoons visiting Beijing are part of a similar body that selects Hong Kong's leaders.

Hong Kong's democracy battle has led to increasing tension and division, with activists threatening to stage a mass "occupation" of the Asian financial hub's central business district as early as Oct. 1 as part of a civil disobedience campaign to press their demands.

China took control of the former British colony in 1997, agreeing to let it keep civil liberties unseen on the mainland and promising that the leader eventually can be chosen through "universal suffrage." But Beijing's insistence on screening candidates for patriotism to China has stoked fears among democracy groups that Hong Kong will never get genuine democracy.

"The student strike will mark the turning point of the democratic movement," Alex Chow, secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, told about 13,000 students from 24 schools rallying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong's suburban campus. "We will not have illusions in the government anymore, but we'll have faith in ourselves. We are willing to pay the price for democracy."

Students plan to gather daily for the rest of the week in a downtown park next to government headquarters. A smaller group of high schoolers plans to join the strike Friday.

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Chinese students' strike seeks democracy

(09-23 12:39)

Hong Kong students took their anti-Beijing strike to the government headquarters Tuesday, with hundreds gathering at the harbourside complex to protest against China's refusal to grant full democracy to the city. Organizers said 13,000 university students massed at a northern campus on Monday to launch a week-long boycott of classes, a strong showing that breathed new life into the democracy campaign which had been stunned by Beijing's hardline stance. Activists have said the student protest marks the start of a campaign of civil disobedience to protest against China's plan to vet nominees for the leadership of the former British colony, dashing hopes for full universal suffrage at the 2017 polls. There were unruly scenes as a group of students rushed towards Hong Kong's leader, chief executive Leung Chun-ying, when he emerged from the building after holding a press conference. Security officials held the students back as they tried to speak with Leung, and escorted them from the grounds as dozens of media joined the melee. "We have paid close attention to the demands for the election in 2017 by the university students,'' Leung had said at the press conference, adding that Beijing's proposals were an improvement on the current state of democracy. "You can see that he has no intention of having a dialogue with the students,'' said Alex Chow Yong-kang, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Students and one of the activists who ran up to Leung. Chow threatened an escalation of the protest action if Leung refuses to speak with students within 48 hours. Despite the warnings, the park outside the Hong Kong government's Tamar headquarters was taking on a carnival atmosphere as protesters trickled in under the summer sun, to attend a program including lectures on the lawns. "The government officials, the legislators, they can look out their window and see us calling for true democracy,'' 20-year-old political science student Ester Wong told AFP. "Someone needs to take the lead in showing the government they're wrong, and this time it's up to the students,'' said Ryan Lo, 19, a theatre student. "We oppose the Chinese government trying to limit the freedoms Hong Kong people deserve,'' Lo said. Tensions in Hong Kong are at their highest in years, fueled by rising inequality as well as Beijing's perceived political interference in the affairs of the semi-autonomous territory. A coalition of pro-democracy groups, led by Occupy Central, have labelled the election restrictions a "fake democracy'' and have vowed a series of actions including a blockade of the Central financial district. Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems'' agreement which allows civil liberties not seen on the mainland, including free speech and the right to protest. --AFP

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Democracy strike at government HQ

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