News Digest

Turnout slim as thousands in Hong Kong rally for democracy

Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers took to the streets Wednesday to renew their call for full democracy but the turnout was noticeably lower than in recent years, reflecting an impasse after a year of bitter battles over political reform. Thinner crowds at the protest highlight the uncertain direction for the democracy movement after accomplishing its immediate goal last month of blocking the government’s Beijing-backed restricted election plan. Police lined the route of the protest, held on a public holiday marking Hong Kong’s handover from British to Chinese rule. Public appetite for more street protests is also diminished after tens of thousands of student-led protesters blocked streets in key districts for 79 days last year to demand free elections for the southern Chinese city’s top leader. The movement caught the world’s attention but did not result in any meaningful change.

Maybe some of them feel tired and stressed from all these fights and arguments so maybe they want to take a rest.

Drake Leung, a 27-year-old information technology worker attending the rally

Protesters gathered at Victoria Park to march through sweltering skyscraper-lined streets to city government headquarters. Many carried yellow umbrellas, a nod to last year’s “Umbrella Movement” protesters and their favored method of defending against police pepper spray. Beijing took control of the former British colony on July 1, 1997, but allowed it to keep its own financial and legal system and civil liberties unseen on the mainland, such as freedom of speech and protest. The holiday has become a traditional day to protest government policies and to call for democracy.