Supporters hold banners and placards at Hong Kong's financial Central district during a kick-off ceremony to urge people to vote in an unofficial referendum June 20, 2014. Tens of thousands of people voted for full democracy in Hong Kong within the first hour of an unofficial online referendum, a civil campaign that has sparked warnings from China's Communist Party leaders. Social tensions have steadily risen in the former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997 - with pro-democracy activists threatening to blockade part of the city's financial district if China doesn't allow opposition candidates to run in a 2017 election. Chinese characters on the banner reads "Walkathon to demand universal suffrage". REUTERS/Bobby Yip (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS BUSINESS)