Hong Kong protesters fear loss of political freedom

HUNDREDS of thousands of people marched in protest at anti-subversion legislation that many in this former British colony fear could erode political freedom six years after its return to Chinese rule.

Witnesses and rally organisers said up to 400,000 took part in the demonstration, as police confirmed it was the biggest protest in Hong Kong since more than one million people rallied in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

"There are several hundred thousand people here," said Richard Tsoi, a spokesman for protest organisers the Civil Human Rights Front from the front of the march.