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 Leung was speaking after more than two weeks of protests that have
paralyzed parts of the city and grabbed global headlines amid scenes
of violent clashes and tear gas rising between some of the world's
most valuable office buildings.
The protesters are demanding free elections for their leader in
2017, but Beijing insists on screening candidates first and Leung
reiterated that the government was unwilling to compromise.
"We don't find civil nomination in all Western democracies either,"
Leung said when a reporter challenged him on how the talks could
progress when he was ruling out any changes to the electoral
framework.
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam canceled talks with student leaders
earlier this month, saying it was impossible to have constructive
dialogue.
Leung spoke as posters depicting him as a fanged wolf, a gang boss
and Hitler stared down from the walls of government headquarters and
the Legislative Council building in Admiralty, next to the Central
business district, the epicenter of the protest movement against
him.
 In the early hours of Thursday, police used pepper spray to stop
protesters from blocking a major road near Leung's office amid
public anger over the police beating and kicking, captured on video,
of a protester a day earlier.
At police headquarters in the entertainment district of Wan Chai,
hundreds of people gathered outside to express outrage at the
beating, with dozens queuing to lodge formal complaints.
Authorities on Wednesday said the officer involved in the beating of
Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, a member of the pro-democracy Civic Party, would
be suspended.
Footage of the beating has gone viral and injected fresh momentum
into the protest that had been flagging after nearly three weeks of
demonstrations.
Tsang was taken to hospital and activists released photographs
showing bruising on his face and body.
Several social workers printed a "wanted" poster with color pictures
of the police officers they said were responsible.
"I think the police have betrayed us Hong Kong citizens," said Tony
Yip, 23, a research assistant at a science museum. "They are using
violence against ordinary citizens."
A few hundred protesters were camped out on Thursday around the main
protest site in Admiralty and the atmosphere was calm.
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At its peak, 100,000 protesters had been on the streets, presenting
Beijing with one of its biggest political challenges since it
crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in and around Tiananmen Square
in the Chinese capital in 1989.
Those numbers have dwindled significantly. But a hardcore group of
demonstrators, mostly students, has kept up the pressure on Hong
Kong authorities, who have called the protests illegal.
China rules Hong Kong under a "one country, two systems" formula
that gives the city wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed
in mainland China, with universal suffrage an eventual goal.
But Communist Party rulers, fearful that demands for democracy might
spread to the mainland, say only candidates vetted by a nominating
committee will be able to contest a full city-wide vote to choose
the next chief executive in 2017.
Leung has said there is "zero chance" Beijing will give in to
protesters' demands, a view shared by most political analysts and
many Hong Kong citizens.
Hong Kong's most prominent property tycoon, Li Ka-shing, on
Wednesday urged the protesters to go home - in one of the world's
most expensive cities where the vast majority cannot afford their
own home.
Li, Asia's richest man and chairman of property developer Cheung
Kong (Holdings) Ltd, had made no public comment on the protests but
broke his silence to say if Hong Kong's rule of law broke down it
would be the city's "greatest sorrow".
"I urge everyone not to be agitated," he said. "I urge everyone not
to let today's passion become the regret for tomorrow. I earnestly
request everyone to return to their families."
(Additional reporting by Clare Baldwin, Donny Kwok, Kinling Lo,
Yimou Lee, Farah Master and Greg Torode, Writing by Anne Marie
Roantree; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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