bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Chris Lau

JULIE CHU

The Federation of Students, the major force behind the Occupy Central protests, could decide within a week whether to retreat from occupied sites after refusing for more than nine weeks to call off its civil disobedience action.
A change of mind at the core of the federation seems to be afoot after its chief admitted an escalation in their protests on Sunday, when the government headquarters was besieged, had failed.
But the other Occupy student group, Scholarism, appears to be pressing on. Two new hunger strikers joined three others as one of them, group convenor Joshua Wong Chi-fung, drank a teaspoon of glucose on doctors' orders. This happened after his blood sugar dropped worryingly.
Watch: Hong Kong Occupy protests student leaders consider retreat

A core member of the federation, Yvonne Leung Lai-kwok, said protesters had to consider how to conserve their energy so they could stay the course in pursuit of democracy.
"Some protesters [in Admiralty and Causeway Bay] have expressed their intention to remain until police clear the sites, but we also need to think clearly about why we are continuing the occupation," Leung told Commercial Radio yesterday. "It is clear that a concrete decision would be needed [and] this could be made within a week."
On Wednesday, the federation's secretary general, Alex Chow Yong-kang, floated the idea of shifting their focus beyond the sit-in zones to the community.

At the Admiralty site, Scholarism hunger strikers appealed to pro-establishment lawmakers to help resume dialogue with the government.
"The focus of the dialogue will be restarting the five steps of constitutional reform," Cheng Yik-lam said. "This is not against the Basic Law."
The Chief Executive's Office has said Scholarism's request will not be accepted.
Meanwhile, doctors gave Wong, 18, some glucose after his blood sugar dipped to 2.7 millimoles per litre during a 10.30am check-up.
Normal blood sugar levels hover around 5 to 6 mmol/l before meals. A glucose solution is recommended to those whose levels drop below 3 mmol/l.

The teenage activist, who started fasting at 10pm on Monday, apologised for not sticking to his self-imposed rules. "I'm supposed to only drink water."
Two more Scholarism members - Polytechnic University student Eddie Ng Man-hin, 20, and Chinese University student Gloria Cheng Yik-lam, 20 - joined the hunger strike.
At the Legislative Council, lawmakers debated police enforcement of court orders to clear Mong Kok occupiers.
The Civic Party's Dennis Kwok, lawmaker for the legal sector, said: "Police have made use of the injunctions as an excuse to clear areas outside the scope of the court orders."
Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said the police had been restrained and had employed only minimal force.
Bus operator All China Express, which has received court approval to remove blockades in Admiralty, would discuss with bailiffs and the police on Tuesday how to execute the injunction, the company's lawyer Paul Tse Wai-chun said.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Cheung
 


Former jailed ringleader of Hong Kong’s Occupy movement Shiu Ka-chun reveals cancer battle

Nothing brings Hongkongers and mainland Chinese closer together than sports

Former Hong Kong politician ‘major backer’ of firearms purchase from US in ‘Dragon Slaying Brigade’ plot, court hears

Article 23 and the tragedy of Hong Kong

Occupy Central

Hong Kong student federation to consider a retreat from Occupy zones within a week

Federation of Students secretary-general Alex Chow believes that the siege of government headquarters in Admiralty was a failure. Photo: Dickson Lee

Yvonne Leung said “a concrete decision” on whether students call for an end to the occupation could be made within a week. Photo: Dickson Lee

Joshua Wong is given a health check. Photo: Dickson Lee

Jeffrey Lam said said the Occupy movement is losing control and it had increasingly departed from the principle of “love and peace”. Photo: Sam Tsang

News

Hong Kong

The Federation of Students could decide within a week whether to retreat from occupied sites after refusing for more than nine weeks to call off its civil disobedience action.
