In Hong Kong, by-election is under way aimed at putting pressure on China to speed up the move to full democracy. Five activists triggered the vote by resigning their posts in the Legislative Council in January. The activists want universal suffrage for the election of Hong Kong's Chief Executive and representatives. <br/> <br/>The Chief Executive and other senior government figures have announced that they will not vote on Sunday. But Hong Kong's popular former deputy leader, Anson Chan, has backed the election.<br/> <br/>There is no specific date when the Hong Kong public will be able to directly elect their leader and legislators. Beijing has said that direct election of the Chief Executive cannot start before 2017 at the earliest and that of Legislative Council by 2020. <br/>