Seven hours that seemed to have taken protests back from brink
Hongkongers were holding their breath and crossing their fingers as the clock approached midnight, hoping tensionoutside the government offices in Admiralty would not end in violence.
As the clock moved closer to midnight on Thursday, Hongkongers were holding their breath and crossing their fingers, hoping the tension between the two sides facing each other outside the government offices in Admiralty would not end in violence.
Yet efforts by people from across the political spectrum to mediate between the government and protesters had been under way since 5pm.
Eight lawmakers, four from the pro-establishment camp and four from the pan-democratic camp, met Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to discuss how to defuse the looming crisis.
A person present at the 75-minute meeting said Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, chairman of the Business and Professionals Alliance, and alliance vice-chairman Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung were emotional when they urged the chief secretary to meet students.
Their call was echoed by Tam Yiu-chung, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, and another DAB legislator, Ip Kwok-him, and the four pan-democrats: Emily Lau Wai-hing, Alan Leong Kah-kit, Cyd Ho Sau-lan and Charles Mok.