HK protests hurting small businesses

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong are clinging on to their protest sites in key areas of the tightly packed city, but their numbers are waning along with the patience of some of their fellow citizens.

"At first, I supported them, but then I started to think they are being selfish because they block the roads -- and that's wrong," said Virginia Lai, who has sold newspapers from a stall in the busy district of Mong Kok for 45 years.

Lai says her business is down 30% and getting worse. The student-led demonstrators are camped out at a major intersection in the neighborhood, which witnessed violent clashes between protesters and their opponents over the weekend.

A CNN team at the main protest point in the Admiralty area also witnessed friction Tuesday night as a handful of protesters wearing blue ribbons -- indicating an anti-Occupy stance -- were mobbed by hundreds of Occupy student protesters.

Photos: Hong Kong unrest

 

Violent outbursts caught on camera

 

'We are fighting for our future'

The protesters have blocked several main highways in the city for more than a week as they seek to change a decision by China's ruling Communist Party on how the next election for Hong Kong's top leader will work.

At their peak, the demonstrations brought tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents together in spectacular fashion, covering large areas of the semiautonomous territory's central business district in a sea of people.

'Disrupting my life'

But that was last week, when two back-to-back public holidays put work and classes on hold for a lot of people.

As activity has cranked back up in the financial and commercial hub in recent days, crowds at the protest sites have thinned significantly and signs of discontent among other residents have spread.

"I am very angry because this movement is disrupting my life," said Polly Lau, an elderly woman who has lived in Mong Kok all her life. "I think there will be a rebellion actually, a rebellion of the other 7 million people in Hong Kong against them."

The protests have blocked bus and tram routes, worsening traffic and putting more strain on the city's rail network. Some businesses, offices and schools have closed temporarily.

In Tuesday's altercation in Admiralty, a known pro-Beijing activist, Lee See Yin, attempted to address crowds from street level through a megaphone and was surrounded by an angry crowd of hundreds of student protesters who began screaming to drown her out.

She insisted that she was also from Hong Kong and had a right to be heard, asking the crowds, "Is this real democracy?"

The altercation, which involved verbal assault but no apparent physical abuse, lasted 10 to 15 minutes.

Eventually, half a dozen police came over and formed a ring around the handful of anti-Occupy protesters, who then left the area escorted by the officers.

On Sunday, a group of about 30 taxi drivers carried out their own protest to express their frustration with the pro-democracy sit-ins, which they said were affecting their livelihoods, according to local broadcaster RTHK.

 

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But the protest movement also commands a lot of sympathy among residents of the city, especially after police used tear gas and pepper spray in a failed effort to disperse demonstrators on September 28 -- tactics seen by many as overly harsh.

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Is it 'deal time'?

Some commentators are arguing that now is a good moment for demonstrators to cash in their chips before they lose too much support.

"The longer this drags on, the more student activists risk looking to average Hongkongers like irritants," wrote William Pesek, an Asia-Pacific columnist for Bloomberg View, suggesting it's now "deal time for Hong Kong's students."

"Why not parlay what's been achieved so far into meaningful concessions from the government?" Pesek said.

His suggestion follows calls from some prominent figures, including the heads of local universities, for students to leave the protest sites for their own safety. Other observers have noted that the demonstrators have succeeded in putting the democracy issue back on the agenda.

But it remains uncertain what kind of deal the protesters might be able to reach with the government. One of the movement's demands has been the resignation of Hong Kong's top leader, Chief Executive C.Y. Leung.

Increasing fatigue

Student leaders and the government agreed late Monday to a framework for formal talks after protesters around the government headquarters gave civil servants better access to the building.

Hong Kong government representative Lau Kong-wah said Tuesday that a final meeting to prepare dialogue between the students and the government would be held Friday in Hong Kong.

It will be an "open meeting" between Hong Kong's Chief Secretary Carrie Lam and protest leaders, he said.

Leung released a video statement saying students should consider the inconveniences to the general public and insisted the students clear the vehicle entrances to the government complex. He also advised students to leave the protest site in Mong Kok.

Some demonstrators have said they are running out of steam after enduring long days and nights camped out on the asphalt amid stifling heat and torrential downpours.

"I'm tired, but I think we have to stay a while longer," said Kristine Wu, a student who has been at the main protest site on Hong Kong Island for a week.

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'We really have to stand strong'

Other protesters among the depleted crowd still holding firm at the site Tuesday expressed similar determination to stay put until some kind of result was achieved.

"We really have to stand strong," said Luk Kam Yan, a student who had been protesting for eight days. "There's been a lot of rumors about clearing out, but I feel if we stay here, we still have a bit of bargaining power."

Student leaders have said they will continue the protest until they have productive talks with the government and expressed optimism that their supporters will stick with them.

"Many protesters need rest after nine days of occupation," Lester Shum, the deputy secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, said Monday. "I don't believe they are already giving up. When they have recovered, they will return."

But the government appears content to watch the demonstrators' numbers dwindle as negotiations drag on.

CNN's Laura Smith-Spark, Esther Pang, Pamela Boykoff, Felicia Wong, Will Ripley, Tim Schwarz, Jane Sit, Nathan Mauger and Karen Smith contributed to this report.

香港示威者的挑戰：人群萎縮，挫折不斷上升
由葉忒羅馬倫和安德魯·史蒂文斯，美國有線電視新聞網
2014年10月7日 - 更新1505 GMT（2305 HKT）
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香港抗議傷害小企業
新聞提要
新：學生抗議領袖和香港政務司司長將星期五開會，相關負責人表示
反佔領抗議者和示威學生，在金鐘地區面臨關閉
數字已經減少約香港親民主抗議活動網站
“起初，我支持他們，但後來我開始認為他們自私，”一個女人說：
香港（CNN） -香港親民主示威者執著於在擁擠的城市重點地區的抗議地點，但它們的數量會隨他們的一些同胞們的耐心逐漸減弱。
“起初，我支持他們，但後來我開始認為他們自私，因為他們擋住了道路 - 這是錯誤的，”弗吉尼亞賴，從一個攤位在旺角的繁忙地區45誰曾賣過報紙說年。
賴說，她的生意下降了30％，並越來越嚴重。以學生為主導的示威者紮營在一個主要路口的附近，這見證了示威者和他們的對手在上週末的暴力衝突。
CNN的團隊在金鐘一帶的主要抗議點也見證了摩擦週二晚上為少數示威者身穿藍色絲帶 - 指示反佔領立場 - 由數百佔用學生示威者圍攻。
組圖：香港動亂 組圖：香港動亂
風行照相機猛烈爆發 “我們爭取我們的未來”
抗議者們在城市的封鎖幾個主要的高速公路超過一個星期，因為他們尋求改變決定了中國執政的共產黨如何在下次選舉對香港的最高領導人會工作。
在其鼎盛時期，示威帶來了數以萬計的香港市民一起在壯觀的時尚，覆蓋在人山人海大片的半自治領土的中央商務區。
“擾亂了我的生活”
但是，這是在上週，當兩回至後端的公眾假期把工作和課程擱置了很多人。
由於活動已經拍成備份的金融和商業中心，最近幾天，人群在抗議地點已經顯著變薄和其他居民的不滿的跡象已經蔓延。
“我很生氣，因為這個動作是擾亂了我的生活，”波利樓，一名老年婦女誰曾住在旺角她所有的生活說。“我認為會有一個叛亂實際上，其他700萬香港市民對他們的叛亂。”
抗議活動已經封鎖公共汽車和電車線路，交通惡化，並把更多的應變城市的鐵路網絡。一些企業，機關和學校已經暫時封閉。
在週二發生口角金鐘，已知親北京的活動家，李見尹，試圖通過擴音器，以解決從街道層面的人群和被包圍的憤怒的人群數百名抗議學生是誰開始尖叫聲淹沒了她出來。
她說她也是來自香港，並有發言權，要求眾人，“這是真正的民主？”
發生口角，其中涉及言語攻擊，但沒有明顯的身體虐待，歷時10至15分鐘。
最後，半打警察走了過來，周圍形成的反佔領示威者，誰再留下的人員護送該地區的少數環。
上週日，一組約30出租車司機進行了自己的抗議來表達自己的無奈與民運靜坐，他們說是影響了他們的生計，根據當地的廣播電台香港電台。
誰在供電香港的抗議？ 香港示威者通過應用程序的黑客攻擊
但抗議運動也命令了很多同情的城市的居民中，特別是在警察使用催淚瓦斯和胡椒噴霧在一個失敗的努力驅散示威者於9月28日 - 被許多人視為過於苛刻的戰術。
它是安全的前往香港？
它是“交易時間”？
一些評論家爭論，現在是一個很好的時機，示威者兌現他們的籌碼，他們失去太多的支持之前。
“時間越長這一拖，越學生積極分子冒著希望香港人平均一樣刺激，寫道：”威廉Pesek，亞太專欄作家彭博查看，這是現在的“交易時間為香港的學生。”
“為什麼不互通什麼迄今取得的成果轉化為有意義的讓步的政府呢？” Pesek說。
他的建議如下一些知名人士，包括本地大學的負責人呼籲，讓學生離開抗議地點為自己的安全。其他觀察家注意到，示威者已經成功地把民主問題重新提上議事日程。
但它仍然不明朗什麼樣的交易的示威者可能能夠達到政府。其中一個移動的要求已經是香港的最高領導人，行政長官梁振英的辭職。
增加疲勞
學生領袖和政府同意，週一尾盤為正式會談的框架示威者後，各地政府總部給公務員建設更好的訪問。
週二香港政府代表劉江華說，最後一次會議準備的學生，政府會在香港舉行（星期五）之間的對話。
這將是香港的政務司司長林鄭月娥和抗議領導人之間的“公開會議”，他說。
梁錦松公佈了一段視頻聲明中說，學生應該考慮的不便向廣大市民和堅持學生疏通車輛入口到政府總部大樓。他還建議學生要離開抗議現場在旺角。
一些示威者說，他們正忍受著漫長的日日夜夜駐紮在瀝青際悶熱和傾盆大雨後，正在失去動力。
“我累了，但我認為我們必須停留一段時間，”克里斯坦吳，學生誰一直在主要抗議地點港島區一個星期說。
你在那裡嗎？分享圖片，如果你可以安全地
“我們真的要站在強”
中耗盡人群仍持有公司的網站上週二的其他示威者表達了同樣的決心留在原地，直到某種結果達到了。
“我們真的要忍受強烈的，”陸錦言，學生誰已抗議了八天說。“有過很多關於清理出的傳言，但我覺得，如果我們留在這兒，我們還是有一點議價能力。”
學生領袖表示，他們將繼續抗議，直到他們與政府的會談富有成效，並樂觀地表示，他們的支持者將與他們堅持。
“許多示威者需要九天後佔領的休息，”萊斯特深，學生聯會副秘書長週一表示。“我不相信他們已經放棄了，當他們已經恢復了，他們會回來。”
但政府似乎滿足於觀看示威者人數日漸減少的談判拖延下去。
CNN的勞拉·史密斯 - 斯巴克，以斯帖彭，帕米拉Boykoff，費利西亞兒將里普利，蒂姆·施瓦茨，薛珍敦毛格和凱倫•史密斯促成了這一報告。