MOSCOW, October 28 (RIA Novosti) – Around 650,000 Hong Kong citizens have signed a petition against the Occupy Central movement, People's Daily reported Tuesday.
The petition in support of the local police force and the government of Hong Kong has been signed by 550,000 people in person and 100,000 on the Internet. More Hong Kong residents are expected to sign the petition, as it is open until November 2.
On October 25, the petition website was attacked by hackers who tried to disrupt the collection of signatures. According to political group Alliance for Peace and Democracy, the IP addresses of the hackers were from North America and Europe. The website is now fixed though smaller hacking attacks are still being conducted, the newspaper said.
Major protests in Hong Kong broke out in September as students took to the streets launching a boycott of classes, demanding the Chinese government reconsider its plans for electoral reform. They were later joined by the Occupy Central movement, blocking streets and erecting barricades.
The reform envisages the election of Hong Kong's leadership in 2017 from a restricted list of candidates appointed by Beijing.
