Agreement on talks with students near as Occupy Central protests dwindle

Students and government officials have reached a consensus to start a dialogue on political reform as soon as this week as the city edged towards some sort of normality eight days after Occupy Central protests began.

But the students also reiterated that they would not end their protests in Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok unless a substantive breakthrough was made.

Speaking after an hour-long meeting last night, the Federation of Students' deputy leader, Lester Shum, said he had agreed with Lau Kong-wah, undersecretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, that there would be multiple rounds of talks and they would be based on an equal relationship and mutual respect.

"We agreed that the meeting should [start] this week," Shum said. "We want it to be a substantive dialogue, not just a casual chat or a consultative session."

Agreement has yet to be reached on the venue for the federations' meeting with Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and other top officials, with the students wanting it to be held at a university, preferably the University of Hong Kong.