Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Hong Kong despite heavy rain to support the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and press the US to change its surveillance policies. 
 
 The gathering on Saturday came hours before Hong Kong's chief executive, CY Leung, broke days of silence on the case. He promised to "follow up on any incidents related to the privacy or other rights of the institutions or people in Hong Kong being violated". 
 
 His spokesman declined to elaborate on what that follow-up may entail, the South China Morning Post said. 
 
 Snowden has alleged that the US hacked hundreds of targets in Hong Kong and on mainland China. 
 
 Leung's statement said the government would handle Snowden's case "in accordance with the laws and established procedures of Hong Kong". 
 
 Human rights groups and other organisations arranged the rally after Snowden, a US citizen, told the South China Morning Post that he planned to stay in the territory and "ask the courts and people of Hong Kong to decide my fate". Three days earlier he revealed his identity and his presence in Hong Kong in a video interview with the Guardian. 
 
 Protesters waved placards and chanted "protect free speech – protect Snowden" as they rallied in the centre of the city before marching past the US consulate and gathering outside government offices. 
 
 Hong Kong has a well-used surrender treaty with the US. Supporters say they are concerned that Beijing may intervene in the decision and are worried about his treatment if he is sent back to the US. 
 
 Legislator Charles Mok told the crowd of more than 500 that they were there to protect not just Snowden but "all of us", given the allegations about US surveillance. 
 
 Albert Ho Chun-yan, a high-profile Democratic politician, said: "It's unlawful, unjustified and unscrupulous … We demand the whole truth be disclosed by the US administration, an unconditional apology from [President Barack] Obama and an assurance this interference will stop." 
 
 Allen Kuo, 43, who works in finance, said that as an American the behaviour of the US was "an embarrassment". Holding a sign reading "We stand with Snowden", he said: "People say he is a traitor and what he has done is illegal. I think spying on American people is unconstitutional and we need to address that first." 
 
 Protestors came from a range of ages and nationalities. Teacher Mary Stickley, who has lived in Hong Kong for 17 years, said: "This is my first ever march; I just felt pretty strongly about it." 
 
 Ruth Jopling, whose two young daughters were clutching Snowden masks, said: "We think it does not just affect us, but the next generation. That's why we have come as a family. It's time to stand up: he came to Hong Kong, so he must trust us to do something, and it's not good if we let him down." 
 
 One placard in the crowd read "Read my lips, not my emails". Others had images of Obama above the slogan "Big brother is watching you". 
 
 Several pictured both the US president and the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, reinforcing the message from many protesters that they should not have to choose between criticising the US or Beijing. 
 
 Oiwan Lam, one of the rally's organisers, said: "In the past we have campaigned against Beijing, usually against their violations of rights and free speech … It's not fair to use one evil to cover another." 
 
 Tsui Hon Kong, of the Professional Teachers Union, which backed the protest, compared Snowden's case to that of a Chinese journalist who leaked a propaganda directive banning discussion of the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on the student protests in Tiananmen Square. Shi Tao was jailed after Yahoo handed email records to the Chinese government. 
 
 Tsui said the case was similar because it was about governments ordering internet providers to give them information about customers. "The important thing is that many Americans came forward to speak up for Shi Tao. Now it's our turn," he said. 
 
 Several hundred people participated, but the numbers were small compared with other recent demonstrations. A vigil on the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown this month drew tens of thousands. 
 
 A small poll conducted for the South China Morning Post found that one in two Hong Kong residents did not believe Snowden should be returned if the US made a surrender request. 
 
 Half of the 509 respondents in the poll, conducted by the Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey at Chinese University, said they were against or strongly against his surrender, the Post reported. 
 
 Nearly one in five said Hong Kong should hand him over, and the remainder refused to answer or said they had not formed an opinion. ||||| The US government has not yet raised any official requests with Hong Kong over whistleblower Edward Snowden who is hiding in the city, a source familiar with the situation told the South China Morning Post. 
 
 The source also rejected some earlier reports from the United States that suggested that Hong Kong and United States government lawyers are working together on the Snowden case. 
 
 “That is total nonsense,” the source said. 
 
 The former CIA analyst and NSA contract worker has exposed the American government’s global cyperspying programme – an act that could see him facing dozens of charges from US. 
 
 Snowden has been hiding in a safe house in Hong Kong ever since the Guardian revealed last Sunday that he was the man behind what is possibly the most serious intelligence leak in recent American history. 
 
 He gave an exclusive interview to the Post on Wednesday, during which Snowden said that the US was “trying to bully” Hong Kong over his possible surrender. 
 
 But a Hong Kong government source told the Post that “under no circumstances can the US bully Hong Kong in anyway.” ||||| Half of Hong Kong people believe that cyberspying whistle-blower Edward Snowden should not be handed over if Washington makes a formal request for his return, according to an exclusive opinion poll commissioned by the Sunday Morning Post. 
 
 The poll results, in which only 17.6 per cent of respondents thought Snowden should be sent back, come after hundreds took to the streets yesterday to demand that the 29-year-old former CIA analyst - who is hiding out in the city - not be sent back to the US where he is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
 
 The findings also came as Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying broke his silence on one of the most diplomatically sensitive episodes in the city's history, saying the case would be handled in accordance with the "laws and established procedures of Hong Kong … when the relevant mechanism is activated". 
 
 Leung said the government would "follow up on any incidents related to the privacy or other rights of the institutions or people in Hong Kong being violated". The statement is a clear reference to claims by Snowden in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post last week, that the US National Security Agency has hacked into computers in Hong Kong and on the mainland for years. 
 
 Snowden also said the US was "trying to bully" Hong Kong over his possible surrender, but last night a government source said: "Under no circumstances can the US bully Hong Kong in any way." 
 
 The source rejected as "total nonsense" US media reports that Hong Kong and US government lawyers were working together on the Snowden case. 
 
 The Post poll, carried out by the Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey at Chinese University found that 49.9 per cent of the 509 respondents were "against" or "strongly against" the government surrendering Snowden to the US if Washington were to ask the city to do so. Only 17.6 per cent said he should be handed over. The rest either refused to answer or had not formed an opinion. 
 
 The telephone poll, conducted in Chinese on Thursday and Friday, found that 33 per cent of people regarded Snowden as a hero; 12.8 per cent described him as a traitor; and 36 per cent said he was neither.* 
 
 The poll also showed that Hong Kong people across different age groups and education backgrounds held similar views. Male respondents were more likely to see Snowden as a hero, while women preferred not to answer the question. 
 
 Civic Party leader Alan Leong Kah-kit said the power to reject any US requests to surrender Snowden was in the hands of the central government. 
 
 "According to the agreement to surrender fugitive offenders, the Hong Kong government has no choice but to follow the procedures - unless Beijing chooses to intervene at this stage," he said. "But that, in my opinion, is highly unlikely." 
 
 Executive Councillor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said it could be "dangerous" for the government to make a decision based on following public opinion at a given point in time. 
 
 *Correction: An earlier version said 23 per cent of poll respondents felt Edward Snowden was "something in between" a hero and a traitor. In fact, 36 per cent said he was neither a hero nor a traitor. 
 
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– Hundreds gathered at a rally in Hong Kong today chanting "protect free speech—protect Snowden" and urging the government not to extradite the NSA whistleblower back to the US, reports the Guardian. The protest comes two days after Snowden told local media that the NSA has been hacking China since 2009. "It's unlawful, unjustified and unscrupulous," said a Hong Kong politician at the rally. "We demand the whole truth be disclosed by the US administration, an unconditional apology from Obama and an assurance this interference will stop." A poll commissioned by the South China Morning Post has found only 17.6% of Hong Kong people believe Snowden should be extradited, while 50% oppose the move. The poll also found 33% believe he is a "hero." Meanwhile, sources tell the Post that the US is yet to make any requests with Hong Kong over Snowden, and rejects claims that US and Hong Kong government lawyers have been working together.