Despite protesters leaving some of the main sites in Hong Kong, others remained, causing uncertainty about the future of the protests that have disrupted the island for more than a week. The latest came amid a government deadline Monday morning for protesters to disperse.
"It's a protest unlike any other I've ever covered and any that Hong Kong has ever seen," said Stuart Leavenworth, Beijing Bureau Chief for McClatchy.
Within the protest movement, there are two divergent views, said Leavenworth. Some of the elder pro-democracy leaders are urging protesters to abandon street action and plan the next step. But the younger protesters on the street are pushing for concrete democratic reforms ahead of a 2017 election.
"Mainland China, I assume, is quite worried," said Leavenworth. "They're worried mainly because they don't want information about this getting to mainland China and encouraging similar actions and so they've shut down the Internet, they've rounded up dissidents who have expressed support for the protesters in Hong Kong."