Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam is due to meet protestors for dialogue as she agrees there has been a trust deficit.
More than 20,000 people have applied to take part in a dialogue session with her and "vent their anger" at the government after three months of huge pro-democracy protests. The city's police officials have been accused of using brute force to disperse crowds during the protests.
Lam said it was "quite remarkable" there had not been fatalities during the demonstrations and said she hoped dialogue would help resolve the political crisis gripping the city.
It is the government's first attempt to reach out to the protestors since millions took to the streets in the biggest challenge to China's rule since the city's handover from Britain in 1997. The semi-autonomous city has reached 17th week of political unrest, in which 1,500 people have bee arrested, the youngest being a 12-year-old.
Lam added that Thursday's meeting would be an opportunity for people to have their voices heard but some protesters said they were not interested as their demands are already clear.
"We have promised that participants from different background, with different political stands, could express their opinions freely, even vent their anger," Lam said.
150 people will be chosen at random to attend the two-hour session with Lam, and protest equipment such as umbrellas, helmets and gas masks will not be allowed.
"I hope the community dialogue could be held in a peaceful, rational and calm environment," Lam said.
Amnesty International called on the government to investigate police use of force on demonstrators.
Police, however, denied using excessive force and Lam insisted that they exercised restraint. She also said that she felt "heart-ache" seeing children being arrested and asked, "how well can children understand the current political issues?" "Here I need to urge parents, teachers and principals must let children know that political problems are not that simple," Lam added.
Her remarks drew criticism from opposition legislators.
"You never under-estimate the young's voice," pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo said.
"Many young people these days are very mature-minded and they knew perfectly what they are thinking... and what a civilised society should be."
The protests that initially started against a bill that would have allowed extradition to China, have snowballed into wider calls for democracy and police accountability in the semi-autonomous city.
