2010 Hong Kong democracy protests

The 2010 Hong Kong democracy protests reflected the growing force of the pro-democracy movement in the region, and were sparked by events that year including electoral reforms[1] and the arrest of a high-profile Chinese activist, Liu Xiaobo.

A diverse group of organisations joined the march but largely aligned themselves with three headline causes: 'true' universal suffrage, abolition of the small-circle functional constituencies, and freedom for Chinese dissident Liu Xiabo.

The exception was protesters opposing the location of a Hong Kong connection to the Mainland's national high-speed rail network through a New Territories village.

Hundreds of police erected steel barricades and with minor scuffles when they tried to prevent a small number of protesters from storming the office.

More than 3000 people marched from Victoria Park to the Central Government Offices to demand full democracy in Hong Kong in the 2 May Protest.

The protest happened a couple of weeks before the scheduled by-election on 16 May 2010, during which few politicians tried to turn it into a referendum on political reform that unsurprisingly failed.

The holiday commemorates the day of handover from the United Kingdom to China in 1997 and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

While this was seen by a step forward for Hong Kong, many were disappointed in the pan-democracy camp for going back on their word to settle for something less than pure universal suffrage.

[8] The intention was to trigger by-elections by pitting pro-democracy candidates against pro-China ones in hopes for a de facto referendum on full democracy.

It was the first time Hong Kong's legislature had passed major reforms to electoral arrangements since the city reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.