Organisers of a pro-democracy group who vowed to take over Hong Kong's streets admitted today they were powerless to change China's plan to vet candidates for the city's next leader, but said their protest would go ahead.
The admission came after organisers promised a new "era of civil disobedience" in front of thousands of supporters at a Sunday rally after Beijing crushed hopes for full democracy.
"We have to admit the fact that up to this point it is quite unrealistic to think that our action will change the decision made by Beijing," Occupy Central co-founder Chan Kin-Man told AFP.
"The first function about talking about Occupy Central is to create pressure for compromise and negotiation. Now I believe we have already reached the end point in terms of the democratic change in the system," Chan said.
He also said the movement could end if the city's legislature vetoes the proposed electoral changes.
However Chan said direct action is still planned, mobilising thousands of people to block major thoroughfares in the financial district of Central to protect the city's "core values" and "existing rights and liberties".
But he acknowledged that supporters who are more "pragmatic" may back down.
"Ten thousand protesters was our target set in the past, we are still confident that thousands of people will join and it will last at least for days."
In the kind of scenes that would be unthinkable on the mainland, Li Fei, a senior member of China's rubber-stamp parliament, has been dogged by angry demonstrations throughout his visit to the former British colony - including lawmakers heckling him during a speech yesterday.
Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under an agreement which allows civil liberties not seen on the mainland, including free speech and the right to protest.
Li is visiting the semi-autonomous Chinese city to explain Beijing's controversial decision to control who can stand in the city's next leadership election in 2017.
China today accused London of interfering in its domestic affairs, over a British parliamentary inquiry into democratic reforms in Hong Kong.
The public rebuke followed reports yesterday that Chinese authorities had written to the parliamentary foreign affairs select committee to demand the probe be dropped.
"Hong Kong has returned to the motherland," said China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang.
