Huge crowds march in Hong Kong, piling pressure on leader
HONG KONG — Hong Kong citizens marched for hours Sunday in a massive protest that drew a late-in-the-day apology from the city's top leader for her handling of legislation that has stoked fears of expanding control from Beijing in this former British colony.
Protesters are also angered over forceful tactics by police in quelling unrest at a June 12 demonstration. The crowds filled a wide thoroughfare and side streets paralleling the waterfront of Victoria Harbor as tourists and shoppers who drive much of the Asian financial hub's economy looked on. Many here believe Hong Kong's legal autonomy has been significantly diminished despite Beijing's insistence that it is still honoring its promise, dubbed"one country, two systems," that the territory can retain its own social, legal and political system for 50 years after the handover.
Farther down the parade route, mourners lined up to lay flowers and pay respects at a makeshift memorial for a man who fell to his death Saturday after hanging a protest banner that read in part,"Make Love, No Shoot" and"No Extradition to China." "We encourage all the public to carry on the campaign," said Bonnie Leung, a leader of the pro-democracy group Civil Human Rights Front."If any new violence takes place, it will be the responsibility of the police."
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