Hong Kong activists mark Occupy protest anniversary and set sights on next battleground

Occupy organisers and protesters vowed yesterday to involve the wider community in their fight for greater democracy, looking to coming elections as the key battleground, as they marked the first anniversary of last year's mass sit-ins.

There was a strong sense of déjà vu near government headquarters in Tamar as hundreds returned to the site they had occupied for 79 days. They formed a sea of yellow umbrellas again, chanting the familiar slogan, "I want genuine universal suffrage".

But the mood was more subdued and reflective than aggressive, while police were out in force to prevent any violence or reoccupation of roads in Admiralty.

On the other side of Tamar and in Causeway Bay, more than 100 anti-Occupy protesters held a counter commemoration, claiming it "was not a day to celebrate", but a date that marked the beginning of Hong Kong's economic decline and deep social divide.

Anti-occupy protester John Chan Siu-yan, 29, said: "I still don't understand why my father, mother and sister supported Occupy. They have a different view and still do. We argue and bang on the dinner table about it."

Familiar-looking booths lined Tim Mei Avenue in Admiralty yesterday, hours before the pro-democracy rally started, as activists distributed T-shirts, leaflets and the ubiquitous yellow ribbons that symbolised the Occupy movement.