Pro-democracy protesters have zero chance: HK chief

Hong Kong: Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters have an "almost zero chance" of changing Beijing's stance and securing free elections, the city's embattled Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said in a TV show on Sunday.

Demonstrators calling for Beijing to grant full democracy to the former British colony have paralysed parts of Hong Kong for more than two weeks, causing widespread disruption and prompting clashes between protesters and residents who opposed road blockades.

In an interview broadcast on a local channel TVB Sunday, Leung said the street protests had "spun out of control" and warned it was highly unlikely the action would alter Beijing's position. He added if the government had to clear the protests sites, police would use a "minimum amount of force" to handle the situation. China announced in August that while Hong Kongers will be able to vote for Leung's successor in 2017, only two or three vetted candidates will be allowed to stand -- an arrangement the protesters dismiss as "fake democracy". Since last month students and pro-democracy campaigners have taken to their streets -- sometimes in their tens of thousands -- to call for Beijing to change its position and allow full, free and fair elections and to demand Leung's resignation.

Crunch talks between student leaders and city officials collapsed last week, plunging the former British colony which is now under Chinese rule, in to a fresh crisis as protesters have vowed to dig in for the long haul.