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|  | JULY 7, 2004
By Chen Wu Voting with Their Feet in Hong Kong Despite the heat, the pro-democracy march drew a massive crowd, but the gulf with Beijing remains as wide as ever Causeway Bay, Hong Kong's shopping district, is always teeming, but nothing prepared me for the crowds streaming from the metro station and pouring past my apartment early in the afternoon of July 1. They weren't Hong Kongers in search of bargains. They were protesters, donning white shirts to signify hope for democracy, carrying homemade signs, and wearing yellow ribbons. At the crossroad, a man on a makeshift stand used a loudspeaker to direct the crowd to the protest's assembly point at Victoria Park. This time last year, more than half a million Hong Kongers took to the streets -- an astonishing figure, given the total population of 6.8 million population -- to voice their opposition to Article 23, Beijing's national security legislation for governing Hong Kong, as well as Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's inept response to the SARS epidemic and his poor economic record. FESTIVE MOOD. On July 1, 2004, the seventh anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China, things had changed. The threat of SARS has receded, the economy is on the rebound, and the marchers were demanding universal suffrage in the 2007 and 2008 elections, which was effectively ruled out by Beijing in April. Currently, Hong Kong's chief executive is chosen by an elite group of 800 appointees. It was a humid 94 degrees -- the hottest day so far this year, I learned later, but the protesters weren't deterred. Around 2:30 p.m., half an hour ahead of schedule, the first group moved out of the park, marching toward the government compound at the center of the island, some 2.5 miles away. People from all walks of life, their children in tow, marched side by side and waved signs with varied slogans, from demands for democracy to protests against plans to dump yet more landfill in Hong Kong's harbor. I stuck to the sidewalk, while the marchers occupied four lanes of a major artery. The festive mood was palpable. At every road junction, one of the 40-odd groups that are part of Civil Human Rights Front, the umbrella organization behind the protest, had members leading the chanting via loudspeakers. The crowd's response was deafening. GREAT LEAP FORWARD. Many saw the rally here as a showcase of democracy to mainlanders in China. As a mainlander who studied in the U.S. for the past three years, I'm proud of Hong Kong's return to China. And I believe such a peaceful and ordered demonstration is a good thing for Hong Kong. It might also be an unforgettable experience for many mainlanders. After all, when I saw the national flag and Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) flags flying together on top of many buildings along the street, seven years after the British withdrew, I knew that the march was also a great step forward for China. However, I worried how rally organizers, among whom are pro-democracy legislators, would bridge the gap between Beijing and Hong Kong. Though the organizers said repeatedly that the actual turnout wouldn't matter, they did seem excited when they announced at day's end that 530,000 people had joined the march -- a little more than last year's half a million. A huge demonstration would inevitably anger Beijing. The police estimated the attendance to be around 200,000. PERCEPTION GAP. Rallying a huge crowd in what might turn out to be an annual celebration of people's power is one thing. It's a different challenge for pro-democracy legislators to figure out how to hold an effective dialogue with the central government and the executive branch in Hong Kong in order to reach an accord that's in the best interests of Hong Kong and its future. The next day, when I opened the official China Daily, the report of the demonstration was consigned to one paragraph buried in a story about Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa's listening to Hong Kongers' views. Unlike the international press, which splashed photos of the crowds across their front page, the China Daily featured a solemn flag-raising ceremony marking the anniversary of the handover. Again, I was reminded of how deep the perception gap is. Despite the conciliatory stance espoused by many participating groups before the march began -- in part because Hong Kong's hard-line democracy advocates have softened their tone toward Beijing of late -- the most-chanted slogan remained "return power to the people." That's a phrase Beijing perceives to be confrontational. Many commentators note that what the march lacks is a strong message apart from the broader appeal for democracy. PHOTO OPPORTUNITY. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of people braving the heat, thousands more watched from the relative comfort of air-conditioned buildings along the march route. The window seats overlooking Victoria Park in the Central Library were all taken well before the march. On the floors of Sogo, a department store in Causeway Bay, or in the McDonald's on the street, hundreds leaned against the window to watch the procession. The pedestrian bridges across the demonstration route were fully packed. Everybody was taking photos, using professional cameras, digital ones, and even smart phones. I saw one person take out a PDA and snap pictures using its little digital eye. Many more snapped pictures of themselves or their families, with the crowds on the street as backdrop. It seemed as if Hong Kongers were celebrating the right to express themselves. Everybody in the march was chanting in Cantonese, a dialect I still don't quite understand. I spotted a few fellow mainlanders, all bystanders, and asked what they thought of the march. "The demonstration is still pretty much their affair," one mainlander, who identified himself as a tourist, told me as we watched the parade from the second floor of San Lian bookstore in the Wan Chai district. He admitted that seeing hundreds and thousands of people protesting in the sticky heat was impressive. On my way back home in the metro, a man shouted into his cell phone in Mandarin (which most mainlanders speak): "I joined the demonstrations! Isn't it fun to march among so many people?" The train's occupants were tired marchers heading home, but his enthusiasm for the protest was undiminished.  Wu is an intern in BusinessWeek's Hong Kong bureau Edited by Beth Belton
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