HONG KONG: Hong Kong demonstrators rejected demands to immediately end rallies that have paralysed the city’s downtown, their numbers swelling for a third night before a national holiday on Wednesday, expected to put their campaign for free elections into overdrive.

Protest leaders are confident of mustering massive crowds, angered at Beijing’s refusal to grant full democracy, overnight and into Wednesday for the National Day public holiday marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of Communist China.

Thousands ignored a call from the city’s embattled leader to end the sit-in, as well as Beijing’s branding of their demonstrations as “illegal”, to take to the streets of the key financial hub.

A heavy downpour briefly sent umbrellas skywards and crowds scurrying, but the prospect of bad weather left the crowds undeterred.

“We have spent more than a week under the sun, under pepper spray, we of course can stand the rain. Nothing can stop us,” a recent university student who identified himself as Choi said.

Beijing has been left grappling with one of the biggest challenges to its rule

over the semi-autonomous city at a time when the Communist Party is cracking down hard on dissent on the mainland.

In his first public comments since demonstrators were tear-gassed by riot police on Sunday evening, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the pro-democracy sit-in organised partly by the Occupy Central group was now “out of control”.

“Occupy Central founders had said repeatedly that if the movement is getting out of control, they would call for it to stop. I’m now asking them to fulfil the promise they made to society, and stop this campaign immediately,” he said.

But protest leaders rejected Leung’s demands and renewed calls for the Beijing-backed leader to step down.

“I think there will be a massive turnout, over 100,000 people tonight and leading into National Day,” hedge fund manager and Occupy Central activist Ed Chin said.

Published in Dawn, October 1st , 2014