our china editor carrie gracie has been to the heart of the protests. >> reporter: this is a working day in what's normally one of the most orderly and money oriented cities in the world, but as you can see, the crowds are back to support their democracy movement. the numbers ebb and flow. more here today than there were by daylight yesterday. but fewer than overnight. a fairly relaxed atmosphere, as you can see. everyone just sitting down and enjoying themselves. but there are people preparing the supplies in case the riot police come back with tear gas later, preparing the towels and water. of course, this is the heart of the business and government district. government headquarters there. the parliament building there. behind the government headquarters, the chinese people's liberation army headquarters. and all eyes currently on beijing. a sense of unease about what their next step will be. but i'm also interested to understand what the financial workers of hong kong feel about this. because of course, beijing has said that one of the things against a big civil disobedience prote

including a really good blog from our china editor carrie gracie.k. >>> well, we can now speak, i'm told, to one of the main organizers of the protest group, professor chan kin man. thanks for joining us. do you have any idea of the numbers of protesters out there at the moment? >> i don't think i can have a very accurate estimation now, because people are coming, particularly in the evening. we've got more and more people. but it must be hundreds of thousands of people joining us. >> what do you make of that statement by the chief executive? he is saying there is no point protesting, please stop, because china will not back down. >> well, we believe in a responsible government. when there are so many people that took to the streets, they were not afraid of tear gas, the fight for democracy. they have to respond to it. and we now asked our chief executive to step down. we will have new government. we start the whole constitutional reform process. we're here to send a message. we are looking forward it to. >> but c.y. leung, that statement is very de

carrie gracie has been speaking to protesters in hong kong. >> reporter: when hong kong returned to chinain 1997, beijing promised that it would respect its way of life, and that meant the right to protest along with other freedoms. they also promised that by 2017, hong kong would get direct elections for its leadership. and the trouble is, that three weeks ago, beijing announced the rules for those elections and they don't like them. there's going to be a committee, which will produce just two or three candidates, and they fear that means only the candidates beijing likes will get through. so what do they hope this protest will achieve? >> we are here to fight for our democracy, and to ask the government to give the democracy that they promised. >> i want my voice to be heard. i want voices of people who hold the same opinion as i do to be heard, and that is that we want the true democracy. we want genuine universal suffrage for hong kong. >> reporter: do you think this protest will change beijing's mind? >> i'm not sure, but we have to do something to fight for us. at least we do someth

with all the developments being updated live as well as analysis from carrie gracie, your china editor, bbc.com/news. do have a look at her blog. >>> let's go now to afghanistan, because they have a new president there today. ashraf ghani has been sworn in at a ceremony in kabul. it comes after months of fierce arguments over who actually won the elections. in his first remarks as president, mr. ghani said he was committed to bringing change, and said the country was entering a new era. mr. ghani also thanked his rival dr. abdullah abdullah, who's agreed to take part in a national community government, but the new president took the opportunity to make it clear who's in charge. >> translator: we want to assure you that after this, we will try -- that politics don't become the reason for instability. i want my team, i want everybody who participated and supported my team and who have helped dr. abdullah's team as well to thank you. afghan people showed a victory the national government was a necessity. it doesn't mean sharing of power, but it means working together. i am thanking dr. ab