Middlemen shuttling messages between the sides

At least three people are acting as middlemen, shuttling messages between government officials and students, in an effort to restart talks amid the massive pro-democracy protests.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen said a middleman, who was "well-respected and of high stature", had been communicating with students. He spoke on the sidelines of the Legislative Council meeting.

The South China Morning Post has learned that at least three middlemen are trying to resolve the political impasse, one of them a prominent academic.

The founders of Occupy Central have also sent a message to the government through another middleman on Tuesday about their wish for dialogue between the students and government, said a source close to the matter. The middleman contacted them yesterday with a positive answer, the source said.

Responding to Tam's remarks, Alex Chow Yong-kang, secretary-general of Federation of Students, said no one from his organisation had been approached by any middlemen.

However, he said the federation would welcome any dialogue. "If the government is sincere in having dialogue with us, they don't need to convey the message through middleman," he said. "They can speak to us directly."

The renewed effort to start talks comes after one of the worst nights of violence since the sit-in began on September 28. Early yesterday police descended on Lung Wo Road and Tamar Park in Admiralty after hundreds of protesters built new road barricades. Forty-five people were arrested.