HONG KONG (UCAN) -- Christians taking part in an annual pro-democracy rally say they want greater accountability from the government, better handling of the economic situation and universal suffrage for the territory.

Thousands wave banners ‘One Dream, One Human Rights’, on July 1, the 11th anniversary of Hong Kong's reversion from British to Chinese rule.

On the 11th anniversary of Hong Kong's reversion from British to Chinese rule, about 200 Christians gathered at Victoria Park to join a prayer session before taking part in a mass march organized by the Civil Human Rights Front.

Italian Father Franco Cumbo, who joined the July 1 rally, an annual event since 2003, told UCA News he is concerned about it losing focus but still joins, because he feels the government is becoming more irresponsible.

"I'm angry with Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. He is a devout Catholic who attends Mass daily, so why can't he lead the government to be more concerned with the poor in the Catholic spirit?" asked the regional superior of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME).

Hong Kong diocese's Justice and Peace Commission (JPC), the Hong Kong Catholic Commission for Labour Affairs and five Protestant social-concern groups hosted the prayer rally during stifling afternoon heat.

All rally participants then marched for three hours to the government headquarters in Central district. The procession, whose theme of One Dream, One Human Rights is based on the Beijing Olympics theme of One World, One Dream, demanded universal suffrage and better livelihood for Hong Kong people.

The Civil Human Rights Front said 47,000 people participated in the event, while the police put the figure at 15,500.

Like many protesters, Father Cumbo said he was unhappy with the appointment of eight undersecretaries and nine political assistants to government bureaus in May. The government has been criticized for giving excessively high salaries to some of these officials, who have little relevant experience.

"The monthly salary of an undersecretary, around HK$200,000 (US$25,645), is equal to two years' income for a worker. If the government has so much money, why not use it to help the lower class?" he asked.

Father Stephen Chan Moon-hung, JPC ecclesiastical adviser, alleged that the newly appointed officials are not there "to serve Hong Kong people, but to defend unpopular governmental policies, using taxpayers' money."

He also accused the government of trying to eliminate the agricultural sector here, starting with the poultry industry.

After an outbreak of avian flu in June, the government proposed to compensate chicken farmers and poultry traders who gave up their businesses. "The policy is to turn Hong Kong into a monotonous concrete city and deprive citizens of their livelihood," Father Chan said.

Inflation and difficult economic conditions were other concerns expressed at the rally. Catholic dietician Julian Ho Bing-gong told UCA News he worries about inflation and thinks the government has done little to improve people's economic plight.

He said he no longer hopes for universal suffrage after the government has deferred it "again and again."

At the prayer session, Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong said he was disappointed to see that 11 years after Hong Kong's handover, "democracy remains an empty promise" and universal suffrage "a far away dream."

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun prays for greater democracy and better livelihood along with about 200 Christians before a procession on July 1.

The prelate said the chief executive had promised he would "take the urgent desires of the people" as his own. However, "the actual priorities turned out to be the setting of bewildering new political arrangements and the creation of a 'new aristocracy' to serve who-knows-whose interests."

He asked how Hong Kong could be a caring society and an international city if its considerable financial surplus does not benefit the public and poor elderly residents.

Reverend Ralph Lee Ting-sun, secretary general of the Hong Kong Christian Council, asked participants to pray for the chief executive and his officials. Without universal suffrage, they hold immeasurable power and continue to be irresponsible in making policies, he said.

The Christians also remembered in their prayers the earthquake victims in China's Sichuan province and the cyclone victims in Myanmar, as well as their rescuers.

The annual march in Hong Kong has become an alternative to government celebrations of the 1997 handover. In 2003, an estimated 500,000 people took to the streets to express unhappiness over government policies.

END