Thousands expected at Hong Kong pro-democracy rally

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kongers are set to take to the streets Wednesday to renew their call for full democracy for the Asian financial hub in a rally that follows a turbulent year of protests over political reform.

Organizers expect tens of thousands at the annual protest march, held on a public holiday marking Hong Kong's handover from British to Chinese rule. Local media reports say some 3,000 police will be deployed.

The event comes seven months after the end of student-led protests that blocked streets in key districts for 79 days to demand free elections for the southern Chinese city's top leader.

Wednesday's protest march marks the start of a new, uncertain chapter in the city's democratic development, which is now stuck in limbo after Hong Kong lawmakers voted down the government's blueprint for inaugural elections in June. The plan had required candidates be vetted by Beijing, which activists criticized as "sham democracy."

FULL story at link.



A protester burns a picture of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying during a protest outside a flag raising ceremony venue to mark the 18th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China in Hong Kong, Wednesday, July 1, 2015. The banner reads " I want universal suffrage and Leung Chun-ying step down." (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/25482edc1eca47fab0e852e3a372b538/thousands-expected-hong-kong-pro-democracy-rally

[daleanime]

1. K&R.....

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. I wish them well

but they're going against a Chinese totalitarian bureaucracy in Beijing and their flunkies that seeks to expand power and control in that part of the world. The Chinese authorities haven't had a very enlightened approach towards self-determination over the decades, as evidenced by the way they colonized the people of Tibet and continue to try to rub out their culture.