About a dozen thousand pro-democracy activists are back on the streets of Hong Kong on Sunday, the first gathering since an "Occupy Central" movement crippled the former British colony last year.

Around a couple of thousand police escorted about 12,000 people who gathered in Hong Kong's central business district on Sunday. Government forces are trying to keep protesters from occupying the city's financial district, which led to the closure of busy roads for more than two months last year.

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Protesters are seeking universal suffrage, the right to vote for the Special Administrative Region's next chief executive. The protests have been the loudest opposition to Beijing's iron-fist rule since the 1989 pro-democracy mass action in the capital's Tiananmen Square.

Streets were packed to the rafters with protesters carrying yellow umbrellas and banners - which were used in last year's campaign to endure police tear gas attacks. Activists shouted "we want true democracy" which could be heard in the upper reaches of the territory's skyscrapers.

Although the number of people in the rally failed to reach 50,000 as expected, organizers were happy that many had not lost the spirit of last year's mass action. One of the organizers, Daisy Chan, said the march last Sunday was violence-free and protesters did not try to occupy any place.

Some protesters are worried they may run across anti-democracy groups late Sunday so they armed themselves with protective equipment.

The streets crowds also unfurled colonial-era Union Jacks and Hong Kong flags.

The British handed back Hong Kong to China 18 years ago and the territory has retained civil liberties and autonomy under Beijing's so-called "one country two systems" policy but many Hong Kong locals cry foul over what they perceive to be Beijing's firmer rule.

China did let residents vote in city-wide polls for picking the next chief executive in 2017, but Beijing wants to pick the candidates first. 

TagsHong Kong Protest, Hong Kong, pro-democracy, occupy central