Six out of 10 Hong Kong people want full democracy by 2012

Hong Kong - More than six out of 10 Hong Kong people want China to allow full democracy in the former British colony by 2012, according to survey results published Monday. Sixty four per cent of people said they wanted to elect all their legislators directly within five years and 53 per cent wanted to elect their own chief executive within the same time-frame.
A smaller percentage of 21 per cent said they wanted universal suffrage even earlier, calling for fully direct elections for legislators by next year when a new legislature will be chosen.
However, 34 per cent said they felt that 2012, a year when both the legislature and the chief executive are due to be appointed, was an appropriate date of full democracy.
More than 1,000 people were interviewed for Monday's study which was released by the University of Hong Kong just weeks ahead of the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule on July 1.
Currently, only half of Hong Kong's 60 legislators are directly elected and the there is no popular vote for the chief executive who is picked by an 800-member, largely pro-China election committee.
Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 after 156 years of British colonial rule under an agreement that granted the city of 6.9 million political autonomy and freedom of speech.
The territory's mini-constitution technically allows for full democracy from 2007 but China and the city's Beijing-appointed administration have so far refused to say when universal suffrage will be allowed.
More than 500,000 people took part in pro-democracy marches in Hong Kong in 2003 and 2004 and another mass demonstration demanding universal suffrage is being planned for July 1.