THE GOVERNMENT FINALLY LISTENS TO HONG KONG STUDENTS

Student demonstrators in Hong Kong are set to continue talks with the government, as pro-democracy demonstrations in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory continued to dwindle Tuesday.
Just hundreds of protesters now remain camped outside government offices and on main streets, down from the tens of thousands that have participated in protests since late last month.
Student leaders late Monday agreed to a framework with government officials to discuss their demands for political reform, though it is unclear when the formal negotiations will take place.
Hong Kong Undersecretary of Constitutional Affairs Lau Kong-wah said modest progress has been made, and that both sides have agreed on the nature of the upcoming talks.
"The meeting and the dialogue will be held in an open way, which means the public and the media will be able to attend the meeting. We hope that we can have a frank, direct dialogue with mutual respect at this meeting," said Lau.
Lester Shum of the Hong Kong Federation of Students was more skeptical, suggesting the talks may be a delaying tactic by authorities.
"We don't want to fall into the trap set up by the government. The dialogue held by the government before was just like a normal consultation or a chat. It failed to achieve anything so we don't want this coming meeting with the government to become just another chat," said Shum.
As part of the framework, the two sides agreed that the Hong Kong government would be required to carry out any deals reached in the meetings. Other details are yet to be worked out, such as the venue and the topics to be discussed.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said Monday the government is "sincere in having dialogue on constitutional development" with the protesters, who are demanding Beijing not vet the territory's political candidates in 2017 elections.
Despite the smaller number of protesters, student leaders have vowed to keep up the fight, even while trying to accommodate those Hong Kongers who are frustrated at how the demonstrations have disrupted daily life.
There were major traffic jams on Hong Kong Island and across Victoria Harbor on Tuesday, in part because of the reopening of primary schools that had closed because of the protests.
Businesses near protest sites have also begun to reopen, as have government offices that demonstrators had blockaded in recent days.
The protests saw violent clashes last week after a group of Beijing mobs attacked the demonstrations. Police also fired tear gas and pepper spray at demonstrators last Sunday, prompting a wide outpouring of support for the students.
The protests are the most serious unrest in Hong Kong since Beijing took control of the former British colony in 1997.