Hong Kong (CNN) -- July 1, 2014, the 17th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule, is set to be a hot, possibly stormy day. But the suffocating weather won't stop pro-democracy Hong Kongers -- possibly hundreds of thousands of them -- from filling the streets, beginning at 3 p.m today. Activists are openly challenging China's vision for the city's political future, and they believe the public is on their side. In a recent unofficial referendum organized by pro-democracy activist group Occupy Central with Love and Peace (OCLP), 787,767 Hong Kongers voted in support of free elections for the city's next leader.
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Unofficial referendum on Hong Kong's political future draws almost 800,000 votes
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Results were announced just before the anniversary of the 1997 handover of power, traditionally a big day for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong
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Hong Kongers angered by what they perceive to be Beijing's undue influence over their political destiny
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But the @placeholder government's reaction was decidedly more frosty, with the government declaring the poll "illegal" and its results "invalid" even before the ballots were counted.
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Specifically, Beijing says it will only allow candidates who "love @placeholder."
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"We have an offer and we have a baseline, and this is the thing we will give to the (@placeholder government)," he told CNN.
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Many Hong Kongers are enraged after the recent publication of a white paper by the Chinese government which declares Beijing's "comprehensive jurisdiction" over @placeholder.