DHAKA: Thousands of protesters have thronged the streets of Hong Kong, ratcheting up pressure on the pro-Beijing government that has called the demonstrations illegal, and vowed to press ahead with their biggest protest so far.

As Hong Kong observed National Day on Wednesday, marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of communist China, protesters continued to occupy the central business district and movement leaders said they would announce plans to escalate civil disobedience, report Al-Jazeera.

Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler, reporting from Hong Kong, said that it was unlikely that the government would give in to protesters' demands for Chief Executive C.Y. Leung to step down, and for the Chinese government to drop plans to handpick candidates for Hong Kong's leadership election in 2017.

Our correspondent said that thousands of protesters refused to leave the site of the demonstration, and braved the rain overnight, with organisers expecting "a lot more people to show up" due to the holiday.

He reported that protesters also started to gather in a separate part of the city, which is popular among mainland Chinese tourists and shoppers.

Earlier on Tuesday, Alex Chow, the secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, the organiser of the university class boycotts that led to the street protests, said it was considering its options, including widening the protests, pushing for a labour strike and occupying a government building.

Despite widespread fears that police may use force to move crowds before the start of celebrations marking the anniversary of the Communist Party's foundation in 1949, there was little sign of momentum of the protest flagging.

In the early morning hours of Wednesday, hundreds of demonstrators were milling around outside luxury stores and setting up makeshift barricades in anticipation of possible clashes.

As in most parts of Hong Kong, the police presence was small

BDST: 1105 HRS, OCT 01, 2014