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Public support for Hong Kongs pro-democracy protesters has grown, particularly among younger people, a survey shows, underlining the difficulty for the government to resolve four weeks of demonstrations.

A public opinion poll conducted Oct. 8 to Oct. 15 by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and released yesterday showed 37.8 percent of respondents support the Occupy movement, an increase from 31.3 percent in mid-September.

This is not surprising because the government has so mishandled the protest with police using tear gas and a sense that the government doesnt represent Hong Kong, said Michael Davis, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong.

The results come after Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said that public patience for the demonstrations, which have blocked buildings and roads and snarled traffic, is wearing thin. Student leaders have pledged to continue their street occupation after a first round of talks this week failed to address their demands for a freer election in 2017.

The proportion of people surveyed opposing the movement fell to 35.5 percent from 46.3 percent, according to the poll.

Much of the movements support comes from the young, with 62.1 percent of respondents 15 to 24 years of age backing the protests, compared with 28.4 percent of people in the 40 to 59 age bracket, according to the poll. In the September survey, 46.7 percent of those aged 15-24 supported the protests.

The purpose of the movement is to occupy with peace and non-violence, and this will encourage support, 18-year-old student leader Joshua Wong said in a telephone interview when asked for his response to the poll.

Student leaders met with government officials led by Chief Secretary Carrie Lam in televised talks on Oct. 21 that failed to produce a solution to the biggest challenge to Chinese sovereignty of Hong Kong since the end of colonial rule in 1997. The protesters are demanding that China reverse a decision to vet candidates for the citys leadership election in 2017 through a nominating committee.

While gaining support from young people, the protesters are facing opposition from truck and cab drivers, as the roadblocks at the three protest sites have disrupted as much as 40 percent of bus routes and affected daily takings.

Three injunctions against the protesters have been granted this week, with one filed by closely-held Chiu Luen Public Light Bus Company Ltd. against the demonstrators at Mong Kok, a popular shopping district.

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Local Support for Hong Kong Protesters Grows, Survey Says

Hong Kong stocks are beating every other developed market in the world this month as lower valuations shelter shares from a global selloff and the citys worst political unrest since the 1960s.

The MSCI Hong Kong Index rallied 3.1 percent in October through yesterday, the most among 23 developed markets tracked by MSCI Inc. and one of only two to gain. The measure today erased its loss since police fired tear gas at pro-democracy demonstrators on Sept. 28, rising 0.9 percent, compared with a 3.2 percent slump by the MSCI World Index in the same period.

Hong Kong as a whole has held up pretty well despite whats going on, said Nicholas Yeo, a money manager at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, which oversees $550 billion and hasnt changed its holdings because of the protests. After the first few days, people are becoming more rational and more pragmatic, he said. We havent come to a stage where this means its the end of Hong Kong.

With the benchmark Hang Seng Index trading at 10 times earnings yesterday, the lowest multiple among the worlds major developed markets, Bocom International Holdings Co. says the impact of the protests is already reflected in equity prices. RS Investment Management Co. sees catalysts for Hong Kong stocks in a trading link with Shanghai and prospects for Chinese stimulus.

The Hang Seng Index rose 1.4 percent to 23,403.97 at the close today, its steepest gain in seven weeks, while the MSCI Hong Kong Index added 1.4 percent.

Among 53 developed and emerging country MSCI indexes, only a measure of equities in Turkey rallied more in October through yesterday than the Hong Kong gauge, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Casino operators Sands China Ltd. and Wynn Macau Ltd. led gains, surging at least 9.7 percent.

While the Hang Seng Index plunged 3.2 percent over two days after police used tear gas on crowds last month, shares stabilized as the size of the protest sites shrank and investors weighed the impact on the citys listed companies.

Firms that get a majority of their sales from Hong Kong make up about 13 percent of the Hang Seng Index, while those that rely on China make up at least 54 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Li & Fung Ltd., the wholesaler that gets more than half its revenue from the U.S., rallied 5.8 percent this month through yesterday.

Hong Kong Chief Secretary Carrie Lam and four other government officials held discussions yesterday with five members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students led by Secretary-General Alex Chow in an attempt to resolve the biggest challenge to Chinas sovereignty over Hong Kong since the end of colonial rule in 1997.

Student leaders have demanded China amend a decision that candidates in the citys first-ever leadership election in 2017 must be vetted by a nominating committee, a mechanism they say is designed to guarantee a chief executive more loyal to China than to Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong Stocks Defy Protests to Post Worlds Best Monthly Gain

by Sarah TITTERTON

Hong Kong (AFP) -- A band of Hong Kong art guardians are on constant standby at the city's main sprawling protest site. Their mission: to swoop in and save a vast array of creative works -- including the towering "Umbrella Man" statue -- if the police move in.

Over nearly a month of protests calling for greater democracy in the southern Chinese city, a kilometre-long stretch of highway opposite the government headquarters usually choked with traffic has been transformed into a riotous open air exhibition.

At the centre sits what protesters have dubbed "Umbrella Man" -- a 12-foot tall wooden sculpture symbolising the protester's inventive use of umbrellas to defend themselves against everything from rain and tropical heat to police batons and pepper spray.

Walk through the camp and demonstrators can be seen sketching new works on the road in chalk or hand-crafting hundreds of origami umbrellas. Virtually every wall, central reservation and pillar has become a hanging space while large banners flutter from two bridges crossing the occupied thoroughfare.

All the while a team is on constant alert for any sign of an impending police crackdown.

"Their job is to call me," Meaghan McGurgan, who runs a theatre blog and founded the Umbrella Movement Art Preservation group, told AFP. "I can then mobilise the rescue teams standing by."

The political, grassroots nature of the protest works are far removed from Hong Kong's usual art scene, dominated by pieces that sell for record-breaking sums.

"Everyone can see it, everyone can go, everyone can participate," McGurgan said of the impromptu outdoor art venue.

But activists are acutely aware it could all be lost if the police attack.

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Hong Kong protests: saving the movement's art

Hong Kongs pro-democracy movement will need to muster more political power to force the government to listen to its demands, said Alex Chow, one of the student leaders of the demonstrations, as the sit-ins stretched on Wednesday.

We will need to further justify our actions and rethink the strategy of [just] calling on more people to occupy the streets, said Chow, leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students. If occupying the streets [alone] could force the government to back down, they already would have.

Chow said protest organizers are now thinking out how to regroup [and get] that many protesters back to the streets, while at the same time figuring out how to bring the campaign from street to the community, and mobilize more power from Hong Kong people to force the government to change.

Protesters in Hong Kong, a former British territory that returnedto Chinese rule in 1997 under a framework known as one country, twosystems, took to the streets late last month to demand open nominationsof candidates for the chief executive election in 2017. Chinas centralgovernment in Beijing has rejected such a framework, insisting that allcandidates must be approved by a special committee.

Five government officials met Tuesday with student leaders in the first of what is expected to be several rounds of talks aimed at resolving the political crisis. But the session did little to raise hope that a resolution was close at hand.

In an interview with The Times after the talks, Chow, 24, expressed disappointment about the dialogue and discussed what is next for the campaign.

What the officials were willing to offer was even less than what we expected, he said. No one knew what they are actually talking about. They said they would submit a report to Beijing and consider setting up a platform to supervise constitutional development, but there were no details, no timeline, nothing."

Chow said that although the Hong Kong government could reject the Aug. 31 decision by the Chinese National Peoples Congress to require strict screening of candidates for the next Hong Kong chief executive, the reality is that Hong Kong officials wouldn't dare do that, at least not yet.

To change that, Chow said, more political power is needed. How Chow plans to accomplish that, however, remains to be seen.

The real battle right now is not confronting or negotiating with the government; it is a battle of two strengths, he said. It is about if we have enough political power to force the other give in and give us more.

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Hong Kong protest leader: New strategies needed to pressure government

BEIJING, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- American saxophonist Kenny G visited a pro-democracy protest site in Hong Kong and was advised by the Chinese government Wednesday not to get involved.

The smooth-jazz musician, who performed four concerts in China last month and whose recorded work is popular in China, can be seen in a Twitter photo, with Occupy Central pro-democracy posters behind him and the caption "I wish everyone a peaceful conclusion to this situation."

His comments, which came after Hong Kong Chief executive Leung Chun-ying suggested foreign influences are involved in supporting the Hong Kong protests, received the attention of the Chinese government Wednesday.

"Kenny G's musical works are widely popular in China, but China's position on the illegal Occupy Central activities in Hong Kong is very clear. We hope that foreign governments and individuals speak and act cautiously and not support Occupy Central and other illegal activities in any form, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Han Chunying at a Beijing news briefing.

Playing a work by the musician, "Going Home," has become a sign in China that a building, such as a shopping mall, is about to close and that it is time for visitors to depart. Time magazine suggested, "Conspiracy theorists might see a hidden message for the protesters here."

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China critical of Kenny G's pro-democracy stance