HONG KONG—Pro-democracy demonstrators braved torrential rain to hold their largest rally in weeks, a show of mass support that reset the movement that opposes Beijing’s tightening grip on the city and which heaped pressure on officials to resolve its biggest political crisis in decades.

The peaceful procession was in contrast to recent weekends which have seen bloody battles between protesters and police spread across the city and shuttered the city’s airport last Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of mainly black-clad protesters of all ages rallied Sunday in Victoria Park, the starting point of some of the biggest demonstrations through 11 weekends of unrest, with crowds overflowing into the streets. Many marched 2 miles to the city’s financial district, clogging major road arteries, in defiance of a police ban on any procession outside the park.

The scenes, which evoked two giant marches in early June, show that the movement is far from fizzling out, increasing pressure on local officials and their masters in Beijing who have struggled to contain the social unrest.

“With this huge number we can say that the people of Hong Kong have revitalized and reauthorized the campaign,” said Bonnie Leung, vice convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, which organized the rally. “The campaign has the support but the government doesn’t.”


The organizers said more than 1.7 million people attended the overall rally, during which people passed into and out of the park. Police said there were 128,000 in the park at the peak period.

This weekend was the first in nearly a month without police firing tear gas. The calmer mood may offer an opportunity for officials to consider ways to initiate steps toward resolving the crisis, some analysts said.

Over the past few days, the Trump administration has spoken out more strongly about its concerns over the unrest. On Thursday, President Trump urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to “humanely solve the problem in Hong Kong.”

Billed by organizers as peaceful and rational, Sunday’s rally saw streets thronged for hours. Protesters chanted slogans demanding their rights, including chants of “go, Hongkongers!” while a sound system in one district blasted out “Do you hear the people sing,” a protest anthem from Les Misérables, the musical set during social upheaval of early 19th-century Paris.

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By nightfall, tens of thousands occupied several lanes of public highway stretching for miles parallel to the city’s harborfront, before many dispersed. By midnight, a few dozen remained occupying a highway near the government’s headquarters, defying other protesters’ chants to go home.


Two similarly massive protests in June against a proposed extradition bill—which would have allowed people in Hong Kong to be sent to China for trial—brought the city to a standstill. The city’s leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam, suspended the controversial bill after the first protest, though she refused to withdraw it completely.

The campaign has since broadened into a wider movement calling for democratic reform and driven by anger at police use of force to counter protests and make arrests.

Neither Mrs. Lam, city officials nor those in Beijing have made any concessions since. Instead, they have focused their ire on thousands of hard-core protesters who have in recent weeks clashed more violently with police, with hundreds arrested by baton-wielding officers amid clouds of tear gas.

Mrs. Lam so far hasn’t offered public dialogue with opposition figures. As the city’s economy increasingly feels the strain from a summer of unrest, she tearfully pleaded last week for citizens not to send the partly autonomous Chinese city into “an abyss.”


Beijing has taken a tougher line, accusing some protesters of resorting to near-terrorist acts, demanding that Hong Kong police crack down hard and insisting that those involved in violent protests be severely punished.

“The peaceful demonstration should be seized on as an opening by Mrs. Lam to make political efforts to resolve the crisis,” said Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London, for example inaugurating a truth and reconciliation process. “Doing so now may well get most demonstrators to stay home and return to school and universities as September beckons.”

Student activists have in recent days called for a boycott of classes in early September, when the new academic year begins.

Photos: Hong Kong Protesters Gather in Peaceful Rally After Weeks of Unrest Crowds aim to present a peaceful front after recent violence rocked the city Pro-democracy demonstrators braved torrential rain to hold their largest rally in weeks. Gregor Fischer/DPA/Zuma Press Hundreds of thousands of mainly black-clad protesters of all ages rallied Sunday. lillian suwanrumpha/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Many demonstrators marched 2 miles to the city’s financial district, clogging major road arteries. Kyle Lam/Bloomberg News Billed by organizers as peaceful and rational, Sunday’s rally saw streets thronged for hours. tyrone siu/Reuters By nightfall, tens of thousands occupied several lanes of public highway. tyrone siu/Reuters The campaign has broadened into a wider movement calling for democratic reform and driven by anger at police use of force to counter protests and make arrests. lillian suwanrumpha/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Victoria Park was the starting point of some of the biggest demonstrations through 11 weekends of unrest. Billy H.C. Kwok/Getty Images

The government said Sunday night it would “begin sincere dialogue with the public, mend social rifts and rebuild social harmony when everything has calmed down.”


Sunday’s protests received little attention from mainland Chinese news outlets and social media, where Hong Kong-related posts were generally focused on expressing pro-government sentiment. State media kept up efforts to castigate the use of violence by some Hong Kong protesters and portray how demonstrations have harmed the city’s economy and social fabric—suggesting that Beijing isn’t yielding from its hard-line stance on the protests.

Protesters Sunday represented a broad cross-section of society, as parents brought young children and elderly citizens turned out to demonstrate their support.

Felix Lam, 28, an accountant who had joined some of the demonstrations that culminated in clashes over the past few weeks, said he wanted to help dial back the violence to sustain public support for the pro-democracy movement. “Today we’ll do it peacefully,” he said.

The Protesters’ Five Demands Hong Kong protesters have taken to the streets to advocate for a number of appeals they say must be addressed Complete withdrawal of an extradition bill that would allow suspects to be tried in China

Retraction of the “riot” designation of a June 12 protest

Release and exoneration of arrested protesters

Formation of an independent commission of inquiry into police handling of the protests

Dissolving the Legislative Council by executive order and the immediate implementation of genuine universal suffrage

A 26-year-old woman surnamed Ho, wearing a surgical mask to hide her face and sitting on the concrete embankment of an occupied road, said the support had lifted the movement.

“It was pouring rain but the Hong Kong people still came out,” she said. “Now we know the whole world is watching and this shows our resilience and persistence to fight for our freedom.”

The police had placed limits on Sunday’s demonstration, permitting the rally at the park but denying approval for a march into one of the city’s main business districts. But as the crowds grew larger and had to disperse, many began taking over roads, effectively occupying them anyway.

Many protesters expressed frustration with Hong Kong’s police, whom they accuse of using excessive force against demonstrators in previous rallies and inhibiting attempts at peaceful protest. Protesters have established five demands from the Hong Kong government, which include full universal suffrage as well as an independent inquiry into police conduct.

Share Your Thoughts Will a return to peaceful demonstrations bring Hong Kong citizens closer to compromise? Why or why not?

In a sign of the peaceful nature of the protests, many stores stayed open on streets overflowing with protesters.

“Today is like a reset of the movement,” said a bespectacled university student surnamed Lam occupying Harcourt Road with his classmates Sunday. “The government said it doesn’t respond to violence, so now they have another chance.”

—Wenxin Fan, Joyu Wang, Eli Binder and John Lyons in Hong Kong and Chun Han Wong in Beijing contributed to this article.

Write to Natasha Khan at natasha.khan@wsj.com and Jon Emont at jonathan.emont@wsj.com