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HONG KONG: Thousands of people marched through Hong Kong on Tuesday to urge the speedy introduction of democracy and an improvement in living standards, as the city marked its 11th year of Chinese rule.
Organisers said more than 40,000 people joined the march, while police estimates put the total at just above 10,000.
The annual rally has become a focus for pressure groups to voice their concerns on issues from growing inequality to rising fuel prices since the handover from colonial power Britain in 1997 after 155 years of rule.
Anson Chan, a former top civil servant often referred to as "Hong Kong's conscience," called for clear progress on universal suffrage.
"We think chief executive Donald Tsang owes us a very clear road map as to how we are going to achieve genuine universal suffrage in 2017," she told reporters before the march.
Hong Kong was guaranteed universal suffrage as part of the handover agreement, but Beijing has repeatedly delayed its introduction, insisting the city's chief executive will not be democratically elected until at least 2017.
Other marchers included Allen Lee Pang-fei, a former legislator and pro-Beijing politician, who said he took part for the first time to urge the authorities to deal with problems of livelihood and rising prices.
The city's most senior Catholic and leading democratic campaigner, Cardinal Joseph Zen, led prayers before the march in the city's Victoria Park.
On the anniversary in 2003 more than a million people marched in protest at government failings, contributing to the ouster of then chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.
Tsang oversaw a flag-raising ceremony on Tuesday, before holding a reception to celebrate the anniversary.
He said the coming months were very special for China, with the Olympics in August and said the Hong Kong was closer than ever to the mainland, as shown by the response to the devastating Sichuan earthquake.
He toasted the "perseverance of Chinese people, and to the strongest blood ties between Hong Kong and our country." - AFP/de
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