Students plan one-week school boycott to protest Beijing's election restrictions

In a move seen as a curtain-raiser to Occupy Central, students from at least 14 universities and colleges yesterday announced they would stage a week-long boycott of classes from September 22.

This would be their "final warning" to officials, they said, after Beijing imposed a restrictive reform framework for the 2017 chief executive election.

But the announcement failed to move Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who said it was hard for the government to address calls to abandon the National People's Congress' decision last week because it was a "solemn and serious decision" that was legally binding.

Critics say the NPC's decision - which has set a high nominating threshold and capped the number of candidates at two or three - effectively rules out pan-democrats from running.

Lam also appealed to the students not to engage in anything illegal or any activity that would affect other citizens and cause "counter-results".