Children of a revolution? Hong Kong's college and school students began a boycott of classes last week in protest against Beijing's position on electoral reforms.
The boycott gained the support of over 400 academic and non-academic staff, with college staff promising leniency for students who skip classes and Hong Kong's largest teachers' union circulating a petition calling for strong support for the classroom boycott. More significant were the youths behind the mobilisation and organisation of the boycott. This latest public protest is just one instance in a series of civil disobedience movements initiated by the youths of Hong Kong - many whom are not even old enough to drive or drink. Seeds of fire In an interview with CNN, Chinese dissident, Hu Jian, (himself a student activist during the 1989 Tiananmen protests) noted that "Mainland China is a tinderbox that's been physically suppressed by the authorities, and Hong Kong is a seed of fire".
Wong is at the forefront of the classroom boycott movement. Hong Kong's Joshua Wong, 17, prepares to "battle" China. Joshua Wong, 17, is the founder of pro-democracy student group Scholarism.
In 2012, he led as many as 120,000 people in a protest that overturned a pro-Communist school curriculum in Hong Kong. Now, Wong aims to ignite a wave of civil disobedience among Hong Kong's students to pressure China into giving the city full universal suffrage. 17-year-old students Agnes Chow and Ivan Tan are members of Scholarism. "After joining Scholarism, I've become braver than before," Chow told CNN last year. 24-year-old Samuel Li is the former secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students. Yvonne Leung, 20, is the president of the Hong Kong University Students Union. Although many of Hong Kong's students are not old enough to remember the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, they nonetheless participate in marches like the city's annual June 4th vigil.
Hong Kong protests: Leader says 'external forces' involved. 19 October 2014Last updated at 16:34 ET Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests have lasted for more than three weeks Hong Kong leader CY Leung has accused "external forces" of involvement in the territory's pro-democracy protests - claims strongly denied by protesters.
In a TV interview, Mr Leung said the rallies, which have paralysed parts of the territory for three weeks, were "out of control" even for organisers. The protesters are calling for fully democratic elections in Hong Kong. They are angered by the Chinese government's decision to vet candidates for the leadership polls in 2017. Police and protesters have scuffled amid tense stand-offs in recent days. Student leaders and Hong Kong officials have agreed to hold negotiations on Tuesday. 'Really irresponsible' Speaking on a local channel, Mr Leung said the protests were "not entirely a domestic movement, as external forces are involved" - although he declined to give details or name the countries he thought were involved. Why is Hong Kong protesting? 29 September 2014Last updated at 08:11 ET Protesters and police have been facing off in Hong Kong's main business district Tens of thousands have taken to the streets of Hong Kong in defiance of tear gas and government warnings.
Campaigns by students and pro-democracy activists ballooned into mass protests. They have been angered by the Chinese government's ruling limiting who could stand as a candidate in elections for Hong Kong's leader, due in 2017. The demonstrations have been denounced by China. Who is out on the streets? At the heart of this protest is a civil disobedience movement launched by democracy activists, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, known as Occupy Central. After China's electoral ruling it set a date of 1 October to begin demonstrations. Since then ordinary Hong Kong residents have also taken to the streets in spontaneous action, even defying requests from Occupy to disperse once tear gas was used by police.
Meet Hong Kong's 17-year-old protest leader - BBC Newsbeat. He's been described as an "extremist" and a "buffoon" by China, but 17-year-old Joshua Wong is trying to lead his country through a social revolution.
He lives in Hong Kong, an area governed by Britain until 1997, which is now meant to be an autonomous region of China. But critics say the Chinese government is trying to erode the controls agreed when power was transferred, and many like Joshua are protesting against this. "People should not be afraid of their government," he says, quoting the movie V for Vendetta, "The government should be afraid of their people. " But his political activism started before this wave of protests. Aged just 15, he and some friends set up a group called "Scholarism" aimed, he says, at giving students a political voice. In a recent interview with a Hong Kong newspaper he explained why. "Even though students are under-age, non-professional and lack social status, they still have a role to play in intervening government policies. "