In June 2014, Hong Kong pro-democracy activists held an unofficial referendum in which participants called for an open nominating process for chief executive elections scheduled for 2017. The Chinese government rejected their calls for open nominations, instead saying that nominees for the position would be approved by a government committee. The government's actions touched off weeks of protests, beginning in September 2014. Protesters blocked traffic in major business areas of the city. Police cleared the protest sites by mid-December, though pro-democracy activists continued their calls for open nominations. In 2017, the election committee chose Carrie Lam, who had the support of the Chinese government, to serve as chief executive. She was the first woman chosen to head Hong Kong’s government.
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Tsang, Steve. "Hong Kong." World Book Student, World Book, 2017, www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar261340. Accessed 16 May 2017.
From the South China Morning Post:
Occupy Central is a civil disobedience movement which began in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014. It calls on thousands of protesters to block roads and paralyze Hong Kong's financial district if the Beijing and Hong Kong governments do not agree to implement universal suffrage for the chief executive election in 2017 and the Legislative Council elections in 2020 according to "international standards." The movement was initiated by Benny Tai Yiu-ting, an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, in January 2013.