Hong Kong has been marking the tenth anniversary of its return to Chinese rule. Some residents celebrated by watching displays by the Chinese military. The Chinese President, Hu Jintao said the post-British administration under China, called One Country Two Sytems, has worked well. He said: “In today’s Hong Kong, society is stable, the economy is getting richer and democracy is growing in an orderly way, showing the picture of prosperity. It proves beyond doubt that the One Country Two System formula is absolutely correct.”

Many feared the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents might erode after the UK handed its former Crown Colony back to Beijing on July 1st 1997. And a handful of demonstrators turned out to protest against what they called “one-party dictatorship.”

Police doused them with fire-extinguishers as they burnt effigies of what they called the murderous Chinese leadership. Polls show most Hong Kong residents want democracy as soon as possible.

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