Hong Kong’s government said it hoped to reopen talks with student protest leaders next week, but repeated the condition that negotiations must be held within the city’s constitutional framework.

The condition, which has been the government’s position since the Occupy Central movement started on September 28, is unlikely to go down well with the protesters who have been demanding full democracy for Hong Kong.

‘Over the last few days, including this morning through third parties, we expressed a wish to the students that we would like to start a dialogue to discuss universal suffrage as soon as we can and hopefully within the following week,’ chief executive Leung Chun Ying said at a news conference on Thursday afternoon, reports The Straits Times.

The government is planning to ask university vice-chancellors to act as moderators between the government and the students, he said.

BDST: 1617 HRS, OCT 16, 2014