Thousands March for Democracy in Hong Kong

Hong Kong observed the 10th anniversary of the handover to China today as tens of thousands took to the streets for the now-traditional annual pro-democracy rally. Beijing appears no more amenable to universal suffrage, however—Hu Jintao was in town to swear in the territory's new chief executive and his government, but the Chinese president departed before the march began.

The agreement ceding control of Hong Kong from Britain to China includes a provision for general election of the chief executive, but it doesn't specify a timetable. Tentative early efforts only aggravated government concerns about subversion spreading to mainland China, the Times of London reports, and Beijing has recently clamped down on pro-democracy efforts like today's demonstration.