Return of Protesters to the Streets of Hong Kong

Thousands of democracy advocates returned to the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday, February 1. This was the first street demonstration since the clearing of tents and the removal of protesters from the central business district of Hong Kong last December. According to the Associated Press, protesters carrying yellow umbrellas marched through the central streets of Hong Kong chanting, 'No to fake Chinese elections, we want real elections.' Reports indicate that the Sunday march was held peacefully. Democracy supporters in Hong Kong are protesting the central government's decision in China to have new executive officials in Hong Kong elected from a pre-approved list of candidates vetted by a committee appointed by the central government. Today, Hong Kong is officially named 'the Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China' and is home to about 7 million residents. Last year, protesters marched and staged sit-ins in the commercial district of the island for nearly 80 days, and security forces repeatedly attempted to clear them from the area, which in some cases led to clashes and violence. This situation continued until the leaders of the protests announced that the central government's intention was to escalate peaceful protests into violence, and they would end the sit-ins and marches to prevent this. Hong Kong became a British colony after China's defeat in the First Opium War in 1842 and was under British lease from 1898 to 1997 based on a treaty between Britain and China. The island was occupied by the Japanese during World War II. After the war ended and Japan was defeated, British sovereignty was reestablished, which governed the region until 1997 when the lease expired, and Hong Kong was returned to China under certain conditions. At that time, the Chinese government agreed to maintain the administrative system that was in place during British rule in Hong Kong, but it is now seeking to make changes to the governance and elections of the region.