HONG KONG // Hundreds of thousands of protesters, some waving colonial-era flags and chanting anti-Beijing slogans, staged a pro-democracy march in rain-soaked Hong Kong on Tuesday.
Organisers say this could be the largest demonstration since the city was handed back to China in 1997.
The scale of the turnout reflects surging discontent over Beijing's insistence that it vet candidates before a vote in 2017 for the semi-autonomous city's next leader.
It comes after nearly 800,000 people voted in an informal referendum to demand a free electoral mechanism that allows voters to nominate candidates.
The poll irked Beijing, which slammed it as "illegal and invalid".
The route from the city's Victoria Park to the Central business district was a sea of umbrellas and banners such as "We want real democracy" and "We stand united against China".
Johnson Yeung, a rally organiser, said at least 300,000 protesters had joined the march by 7.45 pm local time.
Organisers expected a final attendance of over half a million, which would be a record for July 1 protests.
Police estimated 92,000 took part as of 7.30 pm but did not count protesters joining the march midway.
"There is a strong desire for genuine democracy that offers choice and competition without (political) vetting," said Anson Chan, a former official in Hong Kong who is now a pro-democracy activist.
The chairman of the Hong Kong post office union, who marched in the sweltering and muggy weather, said the city's government was kowtowing to Beijing.
"This march is not for us, it's for our children. Without universal suffrage there's no way to monitor the government," said Ip Kam-fu.
The city's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying sought to strike a conciliatory note, saying his government would do its utmost to forge an agreement on implementing universal suffrage.
He offered no details on the 2017 election when he spoke at a flag-raising ceremony earlier Tuesday marking the 17th anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China.
A handful of marchers pushed against police barricades but the rally was largely peaceful and a carnival atmosphere prevailed in several sections.
July 1 is a traditional day of protest in Hong Kong.
It marks the handover of the British colony to China in 1997 under a "One country, two systems" agreement which allows residents liberties not seen on the mainland – including free speech and the right to protest.
But there are heightened fears that those freedoms are being eroded.
Among other worries, there has been a series of attacks on media workers in recent months – including the stabbing of a liberal former newspaper editor – while pro-democracy media have complained of massive cyber-attacks.
Concerns increased in June when Beijing published a controversial "white paper" on Hong Kong's future that was widely seen as a warning to the city not to overstep the bounds.
A march on July 1, 2003, saw 500,000 people protest against a proposed national security bill, forcing the government to shelve it.
* Agence France-Presse
