Hong Kong activists denied entry to Beijing

Hong Kong students who have led protests opposing Beijing's decision to screen political candidates were denied access to Beijing, where they had planned to meet with top Chinese officials.

Alex Chow, Nathan Law and Eason Chung — members of a group that played a main role in the protests — were denied boarding passes for a Cathay Pacific flight and told their documents that would allow them to travel to Beijing were invalid.

When the flight took off, the seats booked by the student leaders were draped with a sign that reads: "SEAT INOP, DO NOT OCCUPY."

The students had planned to fly to Beijing to seek talks with Premier Li Keqiang and others.

Since late September, students have been occupying streets in three business and shopping districts in Hong Kong to express their objection to the Beijing decision to have a panel screen candidates for the territory's inaugural 2017 election for its chief officer, but the Chinese authorities have denounced the gatherings as illegal and showed no sign of budging.

Beijing has in the past confiscated or refused to renew travel permits for a number of Hong Kong activists, banning them from entering mainland China.

Chow and his two deputies arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport amid a large crowd of supporters, prompting security officers to set up barriers to control the crowd so as not to disrupt the flow of travelers through the facility.

The crowd sang songs and chanted slogans, and about 80 of them held up yellow umbrellas, which have become a symbol for the pro-democracy movement.

Contributing: The Associated Press