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"Certainly the crowd is swelling as it did last night as sunset approaches and as both sides in this dispute appear to be digging in their heels and unwilling to find a compromise," CNN's Ivan Watson said from the middle of the demonstration. Thousands of protesters clamoring for full democracy in Hong Kong stood their ground even as the head of its government said China won't give in to their demands. Protesters camped out with masks, protective goggles and plastic raincoats on the main road leading into the city's central business district -- bracing for a potential encore to the fierce police crackdown that engulfed the crowd in tear gas two days earlier. Map:
Where protests areMap: Where protests are Another Tiananmen? Protests in Hong Kong Students: We want democracy China faces 'most complicated' protests Photos: Hong Kong pro-democracy protests Photos: Hong Kong pro-democracy protests Hong Kong Chief Executive C.Y. Leung urged protesters to clear the roads Tuesday, saying they might pose a risk to public safety. "The main roads are used by fire trucks and ambulances.
They now have to take a detour, so we urge the society to think about this," Leung said. "I now urge them to call a stop to this." But his words didn't have much effect on protesters demanding the right to choose their next leader without interference from Beijing. "All the candidates will be pre-selected by Beijing. ... It's more or less like North Korea," protest organizer Chan Kin-man told CNN. "But we are an international city. We have a younger generation who have been taught about civil rights, political rights. And we want our words to be heard."
That election was going to be momentous because currently, Hong Kong's leader is elected by a 1,200-strong committee stacked with Beijing loyalists. But just last month, China said it would allow only Beijing-vetted candidates to participate in the 2017 election -- an apparent backtrack of its earlier promise.
Leung said Tuesday that China will not back down from its position on Hong Kong. "Based on the basic law, we will be able to have one-person, one-vote universal suffrage," Leung said. "I understand this universal suffrage is somewhat different to what the public thinks it would be. But this is based on the basic law.
We still want to remain peaceful, calm and think what the best is for Hong Kong." Protesters, meanwhile, are calling for Leung's resignation. "The simplest solution is C.Y. Leung steps down. It will defuse the whole situation," 42-year-old Novelle Wong told CNN. "But because the system hasn't changed, there will be another C.Y. coming up.
This ordeal will happen all over again." The demonstrations gained momentum after the winning the support of Occupy Central with Love and Peace, a protest group that was already planning to lead a campaign of civil disobedience later this week against the Chinese government's decision.
