Passions run high as Hong Kong marches for democracy

[PoliticAverse]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters marched in Hong Kong on Tuesday, many calling for the city's leader to be sacked, in what could turn out to be the biggest challenge to Chinese Communist Party rule in more than a decade.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said his government would do its "utmost" to move towards universal suffrage and stressed the need for stability after nearly 800,000 people voted for full democracy in an unofficial referendum last month.

Organisers put the number of protesters at more than 510,000, emphasising this was a conservative estimate. Police said some 98,600 had joined the protest at its peak.

Johnson Yeung, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, one of the organisers of the march, said activists would take to the streets to occupy the business district if China does not respond to demands for a direct election in 2017.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/01/us-hongkong-protests-idUSKBN0F632A20140701

[KamaAina]

1. My college girlfriend settled in Hong Kong.

I wonder if she's out there with them?

[KamaAina]

4. She most certainly was there!

Via FB: "In the heat and the wet."

[PoliticAverse]

8. Best wishes to her. n/t

[iamthebandfanman]

2. I remember watching the hand over

back in the 90s with a friend late one night on C-span..

we were teenagers at the time and my friend couldn't understand why I was so interested in watching..

I told him it was a historical event and itd be interesting to see how it worked out in the future..

[bemildred]

3. Hong Kong: Democracy rally 'draws 510,000 protesters'

Tens of thousands of protesters have taken part in what organisers say could be Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy rally in a decade.

Organisers said turnout was 510,000, while police said about 98,600 took part during the peak of the march.

The annual rally, marking the day Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, was to demand full electoral freedom.

It came after an unofficial referendum on how to choose Hong Kong's next chief executive drew close to 800,000 votes.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28102644

[alp227]

5. over 500 arrests, per south china morning post

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1544658/mass-arrests-hong-kong-protesters-demand-meet-chief-executive

[PoliticAverse]

6. Thanks for the update. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

7. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, PoliticAverse.