"The protesters have few options left after rallying supporters in a failed bid earlier this week to surround government headquarters that resulted in a night of violent clashes with police armed with batons and pepper spray. Public support for the protesters has fallen as the government has stuck to its apparent strategy of waiting them out," the Associated Press reported.
"Some people wish to stay until the last minute and we respect that — but we cannot occupy without meaning. We will decide within the next week whether to stay or retreat," Yvonne Leung, the Federation of Student's spokeswoman, told local radio, as cited by Reuters.
The Federation and Scholarism are two of several protest groups, which have participated in the Hong Kong protest movement lasting over two months. The leaders of the anti-government "Occupy Central" movement, which capitulated on Wednesday, December 3, called upon student groups to finish the campaign.
China's authorities have repeatedly denounced the protest movement as illegal and unreasonable. The Wall Street Journal stresses that "rising violence at the sites has further eroded fading public support" of the Occupy Central campaign. "Expressing views on constitutional reform through illegal and confrontational means is bound to be futile. We hope the students who are undergoing hunger strike could take good care of their health," Hong Kong's chief executive's office stated on December 3, as cited by the media source.
