Hong Kong's embattled leader defiantly rejected demands to resign and sent his deputy to talk to pro-democracy demonstrators, as huge crowds rallied outside his government's besieged headquarters early Friday for a fifth consecutive night.
Huge throngs who have shut down central areas of the city with mass sit-ins all week had set a midnight deadline for Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying to step down and for Beijing guarantee the former British colony full democracy.
But moments before the deadline was set to expire, Leung appeared before reporters and flatly rejected those demands.
"I will not resign because I have to continue with the work for elections," he said, referring to upcoming polls in 2017 which are at the centre of the ongoing confrontation between demonstrators and the Beijing-backed city authorities.
In a concession Leung said he would appoint Chief Secretary Carrie Lam to lead discussions with the Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of multiple groups involved in the ongoing demonstrations.
On August 31, China said Hong Kongers would be able to vote for their next leader but that only two or three candidates vetted by a loyalist committee would be allowed to stand.
Demonstrators have dismissed the decision as "fake democracy" and have vowed to keep people on the streets for as long as it takes.
Loud boos and jeers echoed across the main protest site as Leung's words were relayed through a series of loudspeakers, AFP reporters said.