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 and the arrest of a high-profile Chinese activist, Liu Xiaobo. The democracy movements of 2010 can be seen as a precursor to the events of the 2014 Umbrella Revolution.
Historical context
The Basic Law
Hong Kong, as a former British colony, was reunified with mainland China in 1997 under the concept of "One country, two systems". While originally a concept with no legal power, a committee consisting of 59 members from different backgrounds and industries joined together after the signing of Sino-British Joint Declaration to create the basic laws of the new Hong Kong under China based on the ideas stipulated in the Declaration and thus gave national legitimacy to the concept. Effective 1 July 1997, Hong Kong was to be treated as fully autonomous from mainland China. This is followed in the Declaration by the promise that "[Hong Kong] will remain unchanged for 50 years", until 2047.
Democracy in Hong Kong
Hong Kong's chief executive is chosen by an 800-member committee, while its legislature of 60 is half elected and half chosen by interest groups called functional constituencies, While a democratic style of government election is promised in Hong Kong's constitution, China ruled in 2007 that Hong Kong cannot directly elect a leader until 2017 and its legislature until 2020.
Events
New Year protest
According to figured offered by the Hong Kong police, 9000 people marched to Beijing's representative office. Organizers claim that more than 30,000 protesters turned up to reignite the democracy movement at times when locals were preoccupied with economic issues. 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. Protesters carried out colourful banners such as "Democracy Now!" Some demonstrators held aloft portraits of Liu Xiaobo, demanding the release of the prominent writer and activist. Hundreds of police erected steel barricades and with minor scuffles when they tried to prevent a small number of protesters from storming the office. New year marches are a fixture on the political calendar in Hong Kong.
2 May protest
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. In January 2010, the Five Constituencies Referendum triggered a by-election when five pan-democrats stepped down. 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.
1 July protest
1 July protests are annual protest rallies originally held by the Civil Human Rights Front. 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. The 1 July march in 2010 was the first public march for democracy in Hong Kong after the unprecedented acceptance by Beijing of a limited democratic reform proposal by the Democratic Party under a document titled the 'Consultation Document on the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive and for Forming the LegCo in 2012'. 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. As a result, approximately 52,000 people took part in the protest. An anniversary parade was organised by opposition pro-government groups, attended by 2000 people. Several hundred democratic party members faced verbal abuse and chants such as "shame on you" and "you betrayed Hong Kong's people" throughout the march to the Hong Kong government headquarters for selling out to Beijing.