The bitter political fight over Hong Kong's democratic development is deepening, with one group saying that nearly one million signatures opposing the city's so-called "Occupy Central" movement have already been gathered.

Launched by pro-democracy activists, Occupy Central organizers are threatening to shut down the financial hub's downtown through civil disobedience should demands for a democratic system that conforms to international norms fail to be realized. In recent months, the group has gathered momentum, sponsoring an unofficial referendum on democracy in June that involved more than 780,000 participants. To date, its civil disobedience tactics have already led to more than 500 arrests.

But a new group opposing Occupy Central, called the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, says it's gathered more than 930,000 signatures since they began collecting them ten days ago on busy streets around Hong Kong. Each signature is submitted on a form that begins: "I oppose violence. I oppose Occupy Central."

The new group has even received the endorsement of the city's top leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.

"We thought [turnout] would not be too bad, but we never expected 200,000 on the first day alone," said the group's spokesman, Robert Chow, in an interview with China Real Time. "It was a very, very pleasant surprise for us."