Hundreds of thousands march for democracy in Hong Kong

HONG KONG: Waving colonial-era flags and chanting anti-Beijing slogans, more than half a million protesters took to the streets of Hong Kong to rally for democratic reforms Tuesday, organisers said, claiming the largest turnout since the city was handed back to China.

The scale of the rally reflects surging discontent over Beijing´s insistence that it vet candidates before a vote in 2017 for the semi-autonomous city´s next leader.

It comes after nearly 800,000 people took part in an informal referendum demanding that voters be allowed a say in the nomination of candidates, which Beijing branded "illegal and invalid".

The protest route from the city´s Victoria Park to the skyscraper-packed Central business district was a sea of umbrellas to combat heavy downpours and banners emblazoned with slogans including "We want real democracy" and "We stand united against China".

Despite soaring humidity and rainstorms, swarms of protesters poured onto clogged streets through the afternoon and evening.

Johnson Yeung, a rally organiser, said at least 510,000 protesters had attended -- believed to be a record for July 1 protests, an annual outpouring of discontent directed at both China´s communist government and the local leadership.

"This year people came out braving the rain and wind and many citizens joined along the way," Yeung told a cheering crowd in the city´s Central business district late Tuesday.

Yeung told AFP that the turnout marked a "record" since the handover. Official estimates of the turnout were more conservative, with police saying 98,600 people took part during the "peak" of the rally, without elaborating.