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Democracy will require resolve By Alex Siu Chun-yin, 18, Chinese University

Hong Kong people have made it clear they want civil nomination. This means letting ordinary people select the candidates for chief executive elections.

Clearly the mainland government does not support civil nomination; it wants everything under its control. Yet Hong Kong's free-thinking citizens are not controlled by them. Occupy Central is a proposed civil disobedience protest in support of universal suffrage, which will take place in Central in July.

Beijing does not want this protest to go ahead. They don't seem to mind if Hong Kong's progress is ruined, or if China's reputation for human rights is further criticised. They care only that Hong Kong might get out of control and ideas of revolution will breed. Without a doubt, they will totally reject civil nomination.

Real democracy comes at a cost. It is not only about people marching, shouting slogans, pushing up against street barriers, or even being arrested in the name of democracy. Hongkongers will need to show greater determination, or the flame of democracy in the city will be swiftly extinguished.

How far do we have to go? Nobody knows. Perhaps the real question is, how far are we willing to go?

- Op-Ed: Thomas Chan thinks that Education secretary Eddie Ng has ignored the freedom of Hong Kong students by urging them not to participate in the Occupy Central movement

- Op-Ed: Our generation is becoming increasingly disillusioned with the issue of climate change. However, it's up to us to press for better environmental policies for the future, wrote Isabel Lai

- Op-Ed: Hongkongers are very eager for universal suffrage and "true" freedom of speech. But given our attitude towards those with unpopular opinions, it seems we're not ready for it, wrote Henry Lui

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Democracy will require resolve