Student leaders of Hong Kong’s long-running pro-democracy protests met with government leaders for unprecedented talks on electoral reform, but the discussion yielded no substantive results. The government of the Chinese territory reiterated that there would be no full universal suffrage, and the students indicated they would continue to push for more democracy. Thousands watched the televised talks from protest sites, expressing pride for bringing city officials to the table but acknowledging little would change. Hong Kong Chief Secretary Carrie Lam conceded that the protests’ “impact is far-reaching” and told students the government would consider submitting a formal report to Beijing relaying, but not advocating, protesters’ concerns and demands. Separately, Chief Executive C.Y. Leung warned that Beijing could intervene rather than continue to let local government handle the crisis. As a result, about 200 Hong Kong protesters marched to the home of the city’s leader Wednesday, while others returned to the streets.
