[link|http://www.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1071251851515&p=1012571727102|Protesting won't do it]

Excerpt:

Tens of thousands of people calling for democratic reform in Hong Kong marched through the city on New Year's Day in scenes reminiscent of the July 1 protest when half a million people poured onto the streets.

Chanting 'we want democracy - one man one vote", protestors wound through busy shopping districts, starting in Causeway Bay and ending nearly three kilometres later at the main government offices in Central.

Lee Cheuk Yan, a pro-democracy member of the Legislative Council and an organiser of both Thursday's march and the July 1 event, said about 100,000 participated. Hong Kong police did not give an estimate of numbers.

"It's a very good turnout because we had expected around 20,000," said Mr Lee.

"It is a clear message to the government that the issue of democracy is very much alive in Hong Kong," he added.

Thursday's orderly march will remind the government of Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed leader, as well as the Chinese leadership itself that despite an improvement in the economy and the abandonment of controversial security legisalation, interest in democratic reform persists.

Thomas Lo, a 42-year-old supervisor at a textile factory, who marched on Thursday with his wife and two children, aged 7 and 10 said: "I came on my own to the march on July 1 and also to the rally on July 9, but this time I brought my children because it is important for them to learn about democracy and to value it."

Ms Lai, a legal executive working in Central Hong Kong, said: "I don't think the government has heard what we were trying to say on July 1. The local government elections and the government's response to that result shows that the message hasn't reached them yet - we want democracy."

I say:

It's not that they're not hearing. It's that they don't care.

Maybe a little trade pressure will help them to care. And as soon as we have a medium range missile defense, we can start exerting military pressure. Then we'll have some real democratic reforms. Anything else is just talk. And talk never solved anything with a regime like this.

If we can make Qadaffi care, we can make anyone care. But only after we've got past the nuke problem.