Rebels with a cause: striking 'white-shirt' students speak about fight for democracy
Thousands of university students joined by secondary school pupils at start of class boycott, as global campaign of support begins
Waving banners bearing the names of their student faculties, they came in their thousands to protest for democracy. They arrived at Chinese University in small groups and massed into a crowd some 13,000-strong, according to organisers. It soon became clear that a uniform of white T-shirts had been adopted for the cause.
Whereas previous student movements have been dominated by the social sciences and arts, this time medicine, engineering and law faculties were all represented in the rally at the Sha Tin campus to mark the start of a week-long class boycott.
They shared one cause: overturning the strict limits on candidate nominations for the 2017 chief executive election set by the National People's Congress Standing Committee and ushering in genuine democracy. But their motivations varied.
Watch: Thousands of Hong Kong university students join week-long class boycott for democracy
Among them was Kevin Lo, an environmental management and technology student at the University of Science and Technology. It was his first protest. "The National People's Congress is trying to fool us. We shouldn't let it win but should fight for what we truly deserve," he said.