Big HK democracy rally fueled by fury at Beijing

Seventeen years after taking back control of Hong Kong, China faced the biggest challenge to its authority Tuesday as tens of thousands of residents joined a march to push for democracy. Anger at mainland China has never been greater after Beijing warned recently it holds the ultimate authority over the freewheeling capitalist enclave despite promises to allow a high degree of autonomy after British rule ended in 1997. Police said 98,600 people joined the rally at its peak, while organizers estimated the size at 510,000. Participants had hoped to surpass the 500,000 that turned out in 2003 for the city's biggest ever demonstration to protest against a planned anti-subversion law. The peaceful crowds carried banners and posters urging democracy and filled half of a broad boulevard as they marched in sweltering heat and occasional rain through skyscraper-lined streets to the financial district. Thousands of police kept watch and ordered the city's iconic trolleys to shut down along the boulevard to reduce overcrowding. Some protesters chanted, ‘Our own government, our own choice,’ while others called for the city's leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, to step down. Some groups along the protest route sang a Cantonese song based on ‘Can you hear the people sing?’ from the musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel ‘Les Miserables.’ The song, with rewritten lyrics referring to universal suffrage, has become an anthem for Hong Kong protesters. July 1, a public holiday marking the handover of Hong Kong from London to Beijing in 1997, has become an annual day of protest. This year a focal point for demonstrators' anger is a policy document, or ‘white paper,’ released last month by China's Cabinet that said Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy is not inherent but is authorized by the central government, according to Yahoo News.