HONG KONG: Thousands marched in Hong Kong Wednesday to demand a greater say in how their future leaders will be chosen, expressing fears that China will limit long-awaited political reforms.

“Democracy will prevail” read some banners as protesters sang and shouted slogans against the government of the semi-autonomous Chinese city, less than one month after the start of an official public consultation on a future electoral system.

“Because we are Hong Kong citizens, we must vote,” said Sharon Tang, a 49-year-old trading company employee, adding that residents of the former British colony have the intelligence to choose their leaders. Mainland Chinese tourists took pictures of the march as protesters chanted “End one-party rule!“

China, which took back Hong Kong in 1997, has promised that its people will be able to vote in 2017 for their next chief executive.

Currently the leader is elected by a 1,200-strong pro-Beijing committee.

But many fear that China will control the choice of candidates to secure the election of a sympathetic official.

“Hong Kong people have been on the streets over the years to strive for what we deserve, and what the Chinese government has not given us,” Charles Tam, 25, told AFP.

One protester had red tape wrapped around her arms and covering her mouth to symbolize an inability to express one’s views.