TO THE STREETS

Anti-Democracy Protest in Hong Kong

Thousands march.

Thousands of people marched in Hong Kong's Victoria Park on Sunday to protest against the pro-democracy movement. The largely middle-aged crowd was wearing apparel denoting Chinese hometowns and schools or corporate employers, and their rhetoric borrowed heavily from the Chinese Communist Party. They gathered to oppose the Occupy Central with Love and Peace, a pro-democracy group that has threatened to bring the Central business district to a standstill if the national government and city legislature pass a plan claiming chief executives must be approved by Beijing. The march marked a stark contrast to the younger throngs of people that held a pro-democracy rally in Victory Park on July 1. While Hong Kong police claimed more people attended Sunday's rally than the one on July 1, reports from the independent Hong Kong University said a maximum of 88,000 attended, compared with a maximum of 172,000 in July.