Thousands of Hong Kong democracy campaigners took to the streets on the first day of the new year Friday to call for universal suffrage and the release of jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Chanting slogans and holding placards, protesters marched through the city centre to the Central Government Liaison Office - responsible for ties with Beijing - watched over by hundreds of police officers and attracting the attention of big crowds of bystanders.
Organisers said there were as many as 30,000 protesters, although the police gave an estimate of only 4,600 people. More than 100 activists scuffled with the officers outside the Liaison Office around 1100 GMT, or four hours after the march started, as the rest of the procession dispersed peacefully.
The Hong Kong government last month unveiled a proposal to increase the sizes of both the legislature and the committee responsible for electing the city's chief executive. But the plan fell short of the expectations of pro-democracy politicians, who have urged the government to introduce universal suffrage in 2012. Beijing has indicated that the vote "may be implemented for the Chief Executive in 2017 and the Legislative Council in 2020".
Protesters also urged Chinese authorities to release Liu Xiaobo, who was sentenced by a Beijing court a week ago to 11 years in prison for subversion, prompting strong condemnation from the international community, including the United States, the European Union and Canada.
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