Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997, with the promise of eventual universal suffrage. Until now, its chief executives — the top leadership post in Hong Kong — have been chosen by a largely pro-Beijing committee. A group of 689 people voted for Hong Kong’s current leader, CY Leung.
A 10 day unofficial referendum organized by activists ended Sunday. With more than 780,000 voting — over a fifth of Hong Kong voters — the referendum’s success surprised even the organizers and galvanized their cause.
China’s communist leaders have said in the past that it will ‘allow’ Hong Kong’s residents to vote for the chief executive beginning in 2017, but in a “white paper” issued last month, Chinese leaders made clear that Beijing would retain control and allow only “Chinese patriots” to be nominated for the election.
Demonstrators assembled in Victoria Park at 3pm and headed peacefully down Yee Wo Street to Hennessy Road and on to Statue Square in Central. “This year people came out braving the rain and wind and many citizens joined along the way,” Johnson Yeung, a rally organizer, told a cheering crowd in the city’s Central business district late Tuesday.
Today is the 16th anniversary of the Hong Kong handover from Britain back to China. People are demanding democratic reform and protesting against the current leadership.