HONG KONG: Student leaders and government officials talked but agreed on little Tuesday as the city’s Beijing-backed leader reaffirmed his unwillingness to compromise on the key demand of activists camped in the streets now for a fourth week.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying told reporters that the government won’t let the public nominate candidates to run in inaugural direct elections to succeed him in 2017, as demanded by thousands of protesters occupying main streets across the city. But he added that there’s room to discuss how to form the key 1,200-member nominating committee. Leung said such changes could be covered in a second round of consultations over the next several months.

“How we should elect the 1,200 so that the nominating committee will be broadly representative — there’s room for discussion there,” Leung said.