The escalating political crisis prompted a top Beijing policy office to hold a rare news conference about Hong Kong. Chinese officials strongly supported the local Hong Kong authorities and said the city’s government should address underlying economic issues, but declined to address demonstrators’ demands for more police accountability and a path to democracy.

Activists and experts said the comments only highlighted the obliviousness of Beijing and the city’s leadership. “There was no sign of tackling the crux of the issue,” said a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “No new solutions were provided.”

What’s next? Organizers have planned more demonstrations for the coming weeks, including a simultaneous rally in seven different districts next week.

Related: Huang Qi, a Chinese activist who was once praised by the Communist Party for using the internet to expose social ills, was sentenced on Monday to 12 years in prison for “deliberately disclosing state secrets.”