Pro-democracy campaigners took to the streets of Hong Kong Sunday, but in far smaller numbers than expected, before a vote on a political reform package that has divided the city and sparked mass protests.

The controversial electoral roadmap, which lays out how Hong Kong's next leader should be chosen, goes for debate at the legislature on Wednesday and will be voted on by the end of the week.

A park in central Hong Kong turned into a sea of candles Thursday as tens of thousands gathered to mark the 26th anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown, with the city deeply divided ahead of a vote on how to choose its next leader.

Six football pitches in Victoria Park were filled with sombre crowds who held candles aloft as they paid silent tribute to the dead.

Two Hong Kong government officials charged over the city's worst maritime disaster in four decades, which claimed 39 lives, will go on trial in late May, reports said Wednesday.

The case follows the jailing of two boat captains for the 2012 collision between a high-speed ferry and a pleasure boat following a gripping 60-day trial.

Hundreds of heavily armed officers are searching one of Hong Kong's rural country parks in a massive operation to hunt down six men who fled with millions in ransom money after a kidnap, local media have reported.

The suspects, who took a 29-year-old woman from her home, freed her after relatives paid a reported HK$28 million ($3.61 million). They had initially demanded up to HK$50 million for the woman's release.

Eight people were arrested in Hong Kong late Sunday after scuffles broke out between police and demonstrators during a pro-democracy protest, as tensions rise following the launch of a controversial election roadmap.

Television footage showed clashes in the shopping district of Mong Kok as police officers wielded batons and used pepper spray to disperse dozens of protesters who were trying to block traffic on a major road.

Hong Kong's chief hit back at "uncivilized" critics on Thursday after he was booed and heckled by local residents as he tried to promote a newly unveiled, Beijing-backed plan for leadership elections in 2017.

The roadmap for the city's first ever public vote for its chief executive was announced on Wednesday. It conforms to a controversial ruling from Beijing stipulating that candidates must be pre-screened by a loyalist committee.

With the battle over how Hong Kong chooses its next leader heating up once more, a protest tent village next to government headquarters is slowly growing.

It is a small-scale echo of the sprawling tent camps that paralyzed parts of the city towards the end of last year, with some protesters keen to make their voices heard again before a key vote on the city's political reform package.

With the battle over how Hong Kong chooses its next leader heating up once more, a protest tent village next to government headquarters is slowly growing.

It is a small-scale echo of the sprawling tent camps that paralyzed parts of the city towards the end of last year, with some protesters keen to make their voices heard again before a key vote on the city's political reform package.

Tensions between Hong Kong residents and visitors from mainland China will not be tolerated, the city's leader said Monday as he confirmed a limit on the number of visits which mainlanders can make.

An influx of millions of Chinese visitors to Hong Kong has prompted rallies by residents angered by congested public transport and shop shelves emptied of daily necessities that are resold over the border.

Hong Kong's leader warned activists Wednesday that the public would "not be sympathetic" to more pro-democracy protests as the city prepares for the next phase of controversial political reforms.

Parts of the Asian financial center were brought to a standstill by mass street blockades at the end of last year, sparked by restrictions from Beijing on how Hong Kong's next leader will be chosen.