Thousands of Hong Kong students began a week-long strike on Monday to protest against the Chinese central government’s framework for electoral reform in the former British colony.

Students from two dozen universities streamed into the Chinese University of Hong Kong to launch a civil disobedience campaign aimed at Beijing. It comes one week before Occupy Central, a pro-democracy group, is expected to block a business district in the city, setting the stage for possible mass arrests in the financial hub.

Democracy campaigners have planned a number of protests after China last month unveiled a proposal for universal suffrage in Hong Kong that allows people to vote for a chief executive but prevents them from taking part in the nomination process.