HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong's embattled leader offered Thursday to hold talks between his government and pro-democracy protesters, but said he will not accept their demand that he resign. 
 
 Pro-democracy student protesters stop to read messages left on a wall of the government complex in Hong Kong, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014. Raising the stakes in their standoff with the authorities, Hong Kong's... (Associated Press) 
 
 A student protester raises his hands as a gesture of their non violent intentions as they resist during change of shift for local police but backed down after being reassured they could reoccupy the pavement... (Associated Press) 
 
 Student protesters raise their hands to show their non-violent intentions as they resist during change of shift for local police but backed down after being reassured they could reoccupy the pavement... (Associated Press) 
 
 A defaced sign is seen in the occupied main street outside of the government complex in Hong Kong, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014. Raising the stakes in their standoff with the authorities, Hong Kong's pro-democracy... (Associated Press) 
 
 Student protesters raise their hands to show their non-violent intentions as they resist during change of shift for local police but backed down after being reassured they could reoccupy the pavement... (Associated Press) 
 
 Local police carry in tubs of riot supplies and gear, including some labeled “rubber baton" to the government compound where student protesters have gathered, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014 in Hong Kong. Hong... (Associated Press) 
 
 Local police carry in tubs of riot supplies and gear, including some labeled “rubber baton" to the government compound where student protesters have gathered, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014 in Hong Kong. Hong... (Associated Press) 
 
 Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying told reporters that he has asked the territory's top civil servant to arrange talks with the protesters, who have been demanding electoral reforms. The massive street demonstrations are the biggest challenge to Beijing's authority in Hong Kong since China took control of the former British colony in 1997. 
 
 Leung made the comments at a news conference just minutes before a deadline that had been set by the protesters for him to step down. 
 
 Standing beside him, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam said she would seek to arrange talks with student leaders of the protest as soon as possible. 
 
 "I hope both sides will be satisfied," she said. "Students had wanted a public meeting but I hope that we can have some flexibility to discuss details." 
 
 Before Leung's announcement, the heads of two major universities whose students have joined others in launching the protests appeared before a jittery crowd massed in front of the entrance to the leader's office and appealed for calm. 
 
 During the day, the protesters prepared face masks and goggles while police brought in supplies of tear gas and other riot gear as tensions grew in an increasingly tense standoff outside the imposing government compound near the waterfront. 
 
 Police warned of serious consequences if the protesters tried to surround or occupy government buildings. The protesters threatened to do so if Leung didn't resign by the end of Thursday. 
 
 In his news conference, held just before midnight, Leung said the authorities would continue to tolerate the protests as long as participants did not charge police lines. 
 
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 Associated Press writers Elaine Kurtenbach, Kelvin Chan and Louise Watt in Hong Kong, and Didi Tang and news assistant Henry Hou in Beijing contributed to this report.
– After more than three weeks of street protests, government officials in Hong Kong have agreed to hold talks with pro-democracy leaders—but Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying appears unwilling to budge on the subject of free elections in 2017, or even the merits of democracy in general. He warns that if the public could vote for just anybody, then the city's poor would come to "dominate" the political process. "If it's entirely a numbers game and numeric representation, then obviously you'd be talking to the half of the people in Hong Kong who earn less than US$1,800 a month," he tells the Wall Street Journal. He adds that it makes sense for candidates to be nominated by a pro-Beijing committee, because it would spark a "constitutional crisis" if the city's voters chose a candidate Beijing found unacceptable. The talks with student leaders will be broadcast live on TV and shown on large screens at protest sites, but there are fears that the government's unyielding stance will only provoke larger and more violent protests. "I'm seriously worried about tonight," pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo tells AFP. "If this is just going to be a political show—where political animals form a political circus—people will think: 'Well, let's just take to the streets again.'"