Protests for political reforms in Hong Kong subsided Monday as schools reopened and civil servants returned to work after protesters cleared the area outside the city’s government headquarters, where they had gathered for more than a week.
Demonstrators say they have taken early steps to begin talks with the government on their demands for wider political reforms, the AP reported.
Protesters have poured into the streets of the semi-autonomous city since Sept. 28 to peacefully protest China’s restrictions on the first direct election for Hong Kong’s leader, promised by Beijing for 2017.
China has promised that Hong Kong can have universal suffrage by 2017, but it says a designated committee must screen candidates for the top job.
Hong Kong’s leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, proposed the talks late Thursday, seeking to defuse the standoff. He warned that police had a responsibility to take all actions necessary to resume social order.
