“Nearly 600,000 votes have been cast in three days of an unofficial referendum on democratic reforms in Hong Kong, part of a civil campaign that has been branded illegal by the former British colony and by Communist Party authorities in Beijing.

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with wide-ranging autonomy under the formula of ‘one country, two systems’, along with an undated promise of universal suffrage.”

Source: Hundreds of thousands vote in Hong Kong democracy ‘poll’ in defiance of Beijing | Reuters