HK protesters call for talks with Beijing

Hong Kong

HONG KONG democracy activists on Tuesday called for direct talks with Beijing officials, the first time such a request has been made as they marked one month of mass protests by unfurling a sea of umbrellas.

The protests have been dubbed the Umbrella Movement, following creative ways demonstrators used them to shelter from the heat, torrential rain, pepper spray and police batons. As protesters streamed into an evening rally at the main protest camp, Alex Chow - president of leading protest group, the Hong Kong Federation of Students - said that he would seek a meeting with China's Prime Minister Li Keqiang if the Hong Kong government failed to relay protesters' demands to the mainland authorities.