Tens of thousands of protesters, some waving British imperial flags and denouncing Chinese “colonists,” marched through torrential rain in Hong Kong yesterday to clamor for universal suffrage on the 16th anniversary of the territory’s return to Chinese rule.

Tropical Storm Rumbia brought a drenching and strong winds to the march, now an annual outpouring of discontent directed at both China’s communist government and the semi-autonomous territory’s local leadership.