DHAKA: As the Occupy Central movement enters its third week with no end to the impasse in sight, Hong Kong leader Leung Chun Ying has again ruled out resigning, saying that this ‘will not solve the problem’.

He also indicated that a return to the table for talks with the protest organisers is not under consideration, given that they want Beijing to rescind its strict rules on Hong Kong’s chief executive election, and to introduce public nomination, the right for the people to choose the candidates who can run in the race.

Acceding to these demands, he said, is ‘impossible’, reports The Straits Times.

The embattled Chief Executive was speaking in an interview broadcast on Sunday morning on local station TVB, the first lengthy interview he's done since the crisis erupted on September 28.

Asked if the government will take the action of clearing out the protest sites in Admiralty, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay by force, he said that it will continue to persuade the protesters to leave voluntarily.

If action is required, the police will use minimal force without hurting the students and other young protesters, he said.

Further indicating that the government will likely continue to take a hands-off approach, he added that he is confident that the protests ‘cannot go on for a long time’, pointing to its organic nature and the lack of leadership within the movement.

Leung described the crisis as a ‘mass movement that has spiralled out of control’, but stressed that it is ‘not a revolution’.

He admitted that there is ‘a degree of difficulty in dealing with it’.

‘While the government has a responsibility to enforce the law, the circumstances are unique and because we care for and love our students, we had been most tolerant in dealing with the situation,’ he argues.

BDST: 1609 HRS, OCT 12, 2014