HONG KONG—The man who governs Asia’s most important financial center spends most of his time these days holed up in his official residence—a former British governor’s mansion—with stewards catering to him as he tries to negotiate an end to protests that have gripped Hong Kong for 11 days.
The city government, led by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, appeared to be headed for confrontation with protesters as recently as Sunday night, after he publicly demanded that streets be cleared for the workday Monday morning.
Instead, after students agreed to initial talks with the city and permitted government workers to return to their offices Monday, the ultimatum came and went without police action. Mr. Leung is now banking on talks with student protest leaders to end the crisis, said a senior official close to him.
“We hope to resolve the issue through dialogues and we expect the meeting with students in coming days,” the official said.
A representative for Hong Kong’s No. 2 official, Carrie Lam, who will lead negotiations with the students, said Monday the government hopes formal talks with protesters will start this week after preparatory meetings on Sunday and Monday, but details hadn’t been set.
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Mr. Leung and other officials decided to push the talks after sensing on Saturday night a change in tone in the students’ public statements, the official close to Mr. Leung said.
he government had first proposed talks last week and student leaders accepted, only to withdraw Friday after protesters were attacked by bystanders in the gritty district of Mong Kok with little police protection.
But on Saturday, after police took more stern action against the crowds, student leaders said they would be open to talking if authorities properly investigated Friday’s violence.
“We think this is the opportunity to proceed,” the senior official said.
A breakthrough to end the protests still appears a long way off. Students are demanding changes to the way Hong Kong elects its chief executive starting in 2017 to make the process more democratic, but Beijing and Hong Kong leaders have signaled they won’t budge on core elements of the plan.
“I think it will take certainly more than one meeting” to reach a resolution, said one person familiar with the negotiations. The two sides could get bogged down debating technicalities, the person said.
But the government negotiating team led by Ms. Lam could offer carrots, observers say, including allowing more people to be eligible to run in primary-like contests for the city’s highest office.
Or, it could adjust the committee charged with picking candidates for the top post to make it more reflective of public opinion. Currently, that 1,200-member committee is stacked with pro-Beijing members.
Mr. Leung, a Beijing loyalist who began his term two years ago with a progressive agenda, has been criticized by protesters as being out of touch with residents’ concerns. Any possibility of a settlement marks a shift from a week ago, when he was criticized after police tear-gassed protesters.
An end to protests would extricate him from a tight spot made tighter by the unique nature of his job, in which he presides over Hong Kong affairs but must also answer to Beijing.
“You’re in a bit of a rock and a hard place if you’re chief executive,” said Tim Summers, a senior consulting fellow in the Asia program at Chatham House, a London institute. “You have Hong Kong people pushing and then you have Beijing wanting a say in the election process of the chief executive.”
Beijing dispatched security officials to Hong Kong in recent days to observe protesters and meet with businessmen, academics and lawmakers, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Keeping a low-key appearance and dressed in slacks and T-shirts, the officials from China’s military, public-security and other branches are asking questions such as “who can call them off, who is wanting to stir up the crowd, which leader?” the person said.
Such an effort “is only in times of crisis,” the person added.
Mr. Leung also faces pressure from residents whose frustrations over traffic and lost business from protests are boiling over. Although the number of demonstrators declined Monday, crowds still block sections of the city, including the main road to Mr. Leung’s Government House residence.
Mr. Leung is keeping a relatively low profile, appearing in videotaped messages, including one Monday in which he repeated pleas for protesters to go home.
“We are sincere in having dialogue on constitutional development,” he said, though police would “resolutely enforce the law” if public gatherings got out of hand. He gave a vague threat to shut down the Mong Kok protest site, saying police would “take actions at a suitable time.”
Joshua Wong, the 17 year-old leader of student group Scholarism, criticized Mr. Leung’s failure to speak to residents in person—something he hasn’t done since Thursday—and said, “I don’t want a chief executive who can only read the script on TV. I can read the script by myself.”
The official close to Mr. Leung said he used videotaped addresses because “we want to make sure the message is accurate, clear and complete,” denying it was to avoid reporters’ questions.
Mr. Leung is staying mainly within Government House, on a hill above the central city, because it is “not appropriate for him to go outside,” the official said. Appearances at his usual office, which has been targeted in protests, could stir up demonstrators, the person added.
Built in the 1850s and remodeled in Japanese neoclassical style during Japan’s World War II occupation of Hong Kong, Government House includes a marble-floor foyer, a ballroom and a drawing room with chandeliers. Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Executive Council, Mr. Leung’s cabinet, was set to take place there rather than at government headquarters, a spokesman said.
The residence is a contrast to Hong Kong’s legislative complex, where student leaders have been sleeping in offices of sympathetic lawmakers and eating instant noodles. It is also a far cry from conditions endured by police officers, some of whom have complained of 18-hour shifts since the protests began.
“Unlike the front-line police officers, we are rather comfortable,” the official close to Mr. Leung said.
The official said Mr. Leung and his advisers monitor the situation by sending “unfamiliar faces” to a protest area for reports, and checking protesters’ Facebook pages.
Officials on hand at times in the residence include Ms. Lam, the person said. Leaders ate stir-fried noodles and fruits but eschewed alcohol—only water, tea or coffee “at maximum.”
The official said the government relied on one or two people as middlemen in communications with students, but didn’t elaborate. The middlemen communicated with protest leaders by phone and the WhatsApp messaging service.
Senior leaders aren’t sleeping over at Government House, usually leaving by around 11 p.m., the official said.
Mr. Leung has asked colleagues “not to stay too late and get some rest to avoid fatigue,” the person said.
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