Troll Wars Direct Democracy #39;2014 Game Changer #39; ..It #39;s JUST Begun!
My reply to Vengeant1: I #39;m NOT SUPPORTING ANYONE, I guess you TROLLS keep missing that part. Also, my online track record HISTORY is about 60 TIMES more accurate and more revealing than all...
By: connectingdots3
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Troll Wars & Direct Democracy '2014 Game Changer' ..It's JUST Begun! - Video
Saudi Arabia: Opposing Democracy at Home and Abroad
Since the onset of the Arab Spring, the authorities in Saudi Arabia have pursued an increasingly repressive course, seeking to maintain the status quo in an environment where expectations are...
By: National Endowment for Democracy
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Saudi Arabia: Opposing Democracy at Home and Abroad - Video
Chow's federation put the number of students attending the rally at about 13,000, describing the turn-out as "inspirational". There was no independent or police estimate.
The Occupy Central movement that has threatened to shut down the business district will likely be encouraged by the turnout. The students' ability to mobilise such a large crowd makes their support an increasingly important driver of Hong Kong's burgeoning civil disobedience movement.
Students converged on a long boulevard at the university, with some carrying umbrellas to protect them from the baking sun, and many chanting "united we stand" and "democracy now".
The Federation of Students said its application to hold a rally in Hong Kong's Central district had been approved for Tuesday to Thursday.
Read MoreHong Kong braces for protests as China rules out full democracy
"Normal phenomenon"
It had written a letter to Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying and planned to gather outside his office on Tuesday if it had not received a reply by then.
The Hong Kong government said in a statement it respected the students' "ambition and persistence".
"The issue of political system development has been complicated and controversial, so it's understandable that different groups in the society hold different opinions and arguments, which is also a normal phenomenon in Hong Kong's diversified society," it said.
The student boycott coincided with a trip by some of Hong Kong's most powerful tycoons to Beijing where they discussed Hong Kong with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
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Thousands of Hong Kong students demand democracy
Students raise their fists during a rally at the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus in Hong Kong, Monday, Sept. 22, 2014. AP Photo/Vincent Yu
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 week-long 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 semi-autonomous 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.
In July, more than 500 protesters were arrested during an overnight sit-in, following a rally that drew more roughly 100,000 people.
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 can eventually 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."
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Students demand democracy in Hong Kong strike
Students and teachers attend a rally during the class boycott at the Chinese University of Hong Kong today. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters.
Students from various universities clench their fists during a demonstration at the Chinese University in Hong Kong today. Photograph: Bobby Yip/Reuters.
Thousands of students braved sweltering heat in Hong Kong today to demand greater democracy as they launched a week-long boycott of classes, underscoring a restive younger generations determination to challenge the Chinese Communist Party.
Wearing yellow ribbons, students from more than 20 universities and colleges packed into the grounds of picturesque, bay-side Chinese University where they were greeted by banners that said: The boycott must happen. Disobey and grasp your destiny.
The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with a high degree of autonomy, but Beijing last month rejected demands for people to freely choose the citys next leader, prompting threats from activists to shut down the central finance district as part of their pro-democracy campaign.
We demand the government responds to our call to endorse civil nominations, said Alex Chow, leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the organisers of the boycott who also called on Hong Kong to reject fake elections.
Some of the student leaders wore black T-shirts with the words democracy now.
Students converged on a long boulevard at the university, with some carrying umbrellas to protect them from the baking sun, and many chanting united we stand and democracy now.
Leading academics in Hong Kong have voiced support for the boycott, with some offering to record lectures and post them online for students who miss school to watch later.
As long as the spirit of democracy stays alive, we cannot and will not be defeated, said Chan Kin-man, a co-founder of the Occupy Central movement that has threatened to blockade the heart of the Asian financial centre to demand full democracy.
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Hong Kong students boycott classes, demand democracy