Democracy activists rally in Hong Kong

More than 1,000 activists took to Hong Kong’s streets on Sunday, September 14, carrying huge lengths of black cloth displaying Chinese characters painted in white that read ‘civil disobedience’ and ‘boycott classes.’ This comes after Beijing in August announced plans for a highly restricted form of universal suffrage. Under the proposal, candidates for the 2017 polls will be vetted by a pro-Beijing committee. Pro-democracy groups called Beijing’s restrictions a “fake democracy” and vowed to usher in a new “era of civil disobedience” against the decision. Beijing’s proposal must win two-thirds support in Hong Kong’s 70-seat legislature, where pro-democracy lawmakers who control slightly over a third of seats vow to veto it.

Read the full story on Rappler.