Beijing loyalists are redoubling efforts to drum up support for the government's proposed constitutional reform, placing newspaper advertisements and scrambling for slots to speak in a Legislative Council public hearing.
Also, the liaison office of the central government in Hong Kong has made the unusual move of lobbying the Chinese Manufacturers' Association to support the proposal, cautioning it against doing 'risky things'.
In a statement published in several Chinese-language newspapers, the Professionals and Senior Executives Association said the proposed reform would 'broaden democratic participation'.
The group, headed by financial consultant Samuel Yung Wing-ki, was lobbied by Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen on Monday.
Meanwhile, a group of second-generation tycoons in the Y. Elites Group also put their weight behind the proposal, adding that the public should not decide now whether to scrap functional seats when universal suffrage is introduced in 2020.
The advertisements followed another placed earlier by government-appointed district councillors, who supported the reform proposal.
Four officials of the liaison office, led by co-ordination department head Shen Chong , visited president Paul Yin Tek-shing and vice-presidents of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association for 1? hours.