Thousands march in Hong Kong in escalating battle for democracy
BY JAMES POMFRET
(Reuters) - Thousands protested in Hong Kong on Wednesday pressing China to allow full democracy in the city as a battle intensifies over Beijing's attempts to control the outcome of a planned direct election for the city's leader in 2017.
Beijing had promised direct elections in the former British colony as the goal for 2017, but the devil is in the details of the rules governing who can run.
Pressure has been building between democratic forces in the financial hub, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, and China's stability-obsessed Communist Party leaders who fear a rival democrat being voted into office.
Protesters at the annual New Year's Day democracy rally shouted slogans demanding full democracy in 2017, with a key condition being the open nominations of candidates so that anyone, including China critics, can run for office.
But Chinese officials and leftist newspapers have rejected that, citing the city's mini-constitution that states all nominees must be endorsed by a 1,200-strong election committee, which is stacked with Beijing loyalists.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/01/us-hongkong-democracy-idUSBREA0005420140101?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
