Thousands of students in Hong Kong started a week-long strike to defend democracy and fight for universal suffrage. More than 13,000 students from 25 universities, wearing white tops, turned out at the Chinese University of Hong Kong on the second day of the protest, demanding the right to nominate candidates in the election of the city’s next chief executive in 2017, and to voice their hostility to Beijing’s decree that all candidates be pre-screened by a pro-Beijing nominating committee.

Students from the sit down strike told reporters that they need to engage in social activism during this critical time in Hong Kong’s history and that it was time for them to take action.

Facing doubts over how effective the strike will be, one of the students expressed the hope that the strike will play an initial role and might lead to a more broad-based public campaign of resistance. She said, “those in power might not respond to students’ action but the protest is inevitable.”

Responding to the voices that dismiss the young people as merely immature students who are acting recklessly, the student said she believes each of them has thought critically about the campaign before they took part and are aware of what they had to sacrifice.

The event organizer and Hong Kong’s largest student organization, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, demanded that Beijing government drop the electoral policy and called for the resignation of of the current Beijing-appointed Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.

The demonstration extended to the third day today at Tamar Park, right across from the Chief Executive’s office where the Federation of Students gave an ultimatum to the Chief Executive, that he engage in direct dialogue, or they will take further action.

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