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Protesters hold vigil over eroding HK press freedom

About 1,800 people lit candles at a nighttime rally in Hong Kong to express concern that the right to free speech has been eroded since this former British colony returned to Chinese rule eight years ago.

Popular former radio hosts Albert Cheng and Raymond Wong, known for their outspoken pro-democracy views, led the candlelit vigil in a park late Saturday. Both quit their talk shows last year saying they had been harassed and assaulted.

The crowd greeted Wong with cheers as he came out to address them. Police spokeswoman Annissa Chan said 1,800 turned out.

Many fear that Hong Kong's civil liberties -- guaranteed under the territory's constitution -- are at risk under Chinese rule. People in mainland China are denied such Western-style freedoms. In 2003, half a million Hong Kongers protested an anti-subversion bill that they described as draconian, forcing the government to shelve it.

Concerns about the freedom of speech came to the fore last May when Cheng and Wong went off the air within days of each other.

Cheng, who survived a stabbing attack in 1998 called the political climate "suffocating."
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