Students holding umbrellas held a silent rally at Exeter University today in a sign of solidarity with pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong.
Around 300 students wearing yellow ribbons took part in the sit-down protest outside the INTO building on the Streatham Campus between 11am and 5pm.
The Exeter Solidarity with Hong Kong group is intending to show support and raise awareness of the ongoing political unrest on the southern coast of China.
Huge protests were triggered by claims that the Chinese government has failed to honour the promise of universal suffrage to Hong Kong by 2017.
Keith Mak, a politics and sociology student from Hong Kong, said: "Personally I think it's really unfair for them to have gone back on its promises. They have betrayed Hong Kong and its people."
The Exeter students are urging the British government to "do more" in support of democracy in the Hong Kong.
He added: "Hopefully our protest will also put more pressure on the Chinese government to back down and give the people democratic and free elections."
Tens of thousands of residents have peacefully occupied major transport routes and buildings across the Asian city since last week.
The protesters oppose Beijing's decision last month that candidates in the territory's inaugural 2017 elections must be approved by a committee of mostly pro-Beijing local elites.
They are posing the toughest challenge to Beijing's authority since China took control of the former British colony in 1997.
Terry Leung, a Psychology masters student from Hong Kong, said: "This is a mockery of the idea of universal suffrage and has led to various protests and subsequently, our sit-down rally."
China's communist government has condemned the student-led protests in the country as illegal.
Police fired tear gas and pepper spray over the weekend in an unsuccessful attempt to disperse the activists.
The protests have been coined the "Umbrella Revolution" after protesters used umbrellas to protect themselves against the police tactics.
People around the world have worn yellow ribbons – the symbol expressing the wish for universal suffrage.
Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw spoke out in the support of the rally in the city as well as the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.
He said: "To protest peacefully is as much their democratic right, as it is the right to vote freely, which they are campaigning for.
"I congratulate the students of Exeter University in their sign of solidarity with the people of Hong Kong."
