It seems these days that every week brings a deluge of news and "events". However this week brings together several big events, some defining new beginnings, others marking ends and others still a continuation of the battle. These include the likely start of the raising of interest rates by the US Federal Reserve; the hand-over of sovereignty in Iraq; and closer to home the July 1st march in Hong Kong.

The march this Thursday is expected to draw 300,000 people. Beijing, either by accident or design, has spent the past few weeks finally veering away from confrontation with the HK democratic camp and moving towards a more conciliatory tone. Politically this is the strategy they should have followed since last year. Instead they adopted the whip-hand first, barring any hopes of democracy until 2012 at the earliest despite the clear intent of the Basic Law. Whether this latest charm-offensive will have the desired effect will be tested on Thursday. With 300,000 now the agreed benchmark a number greater will imply even more widespread disaffection with both Beijing and the SAR's Government than is widely accepted. A number lower will prove Beijing's efforts to draw the sting from the democrat camp successful.

The march has actually turned into a gathering of assorted groups with varying axes to grind. An interesting summary of reasons to march by those in finance, law or investors has been written by David Webb and I am going to quote liberally from it. However I recommend reading the full thing as it repays the time invested in spades.

Hong Kong has always held itself out to the World as a free market, with a level playing field in which participants compete for economic resources and fight for the legitimacy and success of their ideas, within the framework of the rule of law, freedom of speech (including a free media), freedom of belief and freedom of association.

Indeed, Hong Kong does have many of the characteristics of a free market. But there is a key element missing, an omission which may ultimately provide Hong Kong's downfall. At the highest level of the governance structure, there is no free market. Citizens cannot choose between competing sets of policies by electing leaders who would carry those policies into office. And it is those policies which determine the laws and framework within which we compete in the semi-free market...

In recent months, the Central and HK Governments have urged the population to "focus on the economy rather than politics". But what they fail to acknowledge is that the economy is itself a product of policies, and politics is, literally, the art of policy making...

The tycoons who currently call the shots have expressed fears that democracy would lead to a "social welfare state" in which an elected Government squanders public resources and drives us into deficit. Wait a minute - don't we have an unelected Government which squanders resources on corporate welfare schemes such as the SME Funding Schemes or the Cyberport? And have they not presided over the most massive deficits in recent history? We are talking about a government which also indulged in salaries tax and rates rebates at various times since the handover in an attempt to keep the middle classes happy, further exacerbating the deficit. Who's making the hand-outs here?

To be sure, democracy is no panacea. It is not the solution to our problems, but it is the means by which solutions are most likely to be found. With the powers of an elected Government comes responsibility and accountability at the next election. Any Government which indulged in a social welfare state and ran up massive deficits would drive the economy into the ground and get voted out of office for its performance. The unfit policies would fail, and that's what makes a free market in policy making...

Of course, whatever an authoritarian Government decides, they can also change. But in our view, the only way they are likely to change their minds is if they recognise that Hong Kong's stability will be assured if the people are allowed to choose their policy makers, and jeopardised if they cannot. A Government that has a popular electoral mandate will find it far easier to govern and to make the difficult decisions that a responsible and accountable government must make...

There is nothing unpatriotic about marching on July 1st. It is a celebration of your rights under the Basic Law to freedom of speech and assembly, rights guaranteed under the "One Country, Two Systems" formula. It is a demonstration of the "need for change" and that Hong Kong people are ready to fulfil the stated goal of "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" by universal suffrage. Nobody is calling for sovereignty or independence from the mainland. A city should be able to elect its Mayor and Council without electing the country's President. New York City, for example, is not a sovereign state, and as our leaders have often said, we strive to be the Manhattan of Asia. Indeed, New York shows that a tycoon can win elected office, as do Thailand and Italy, both of which have multi-party democracies...

The theme is white and people are being encouraged to wear it. The march on July 1st starts around 3pm at Victoria Park, marching along Hennessy Rd. The intended finishing point is the Central Government Office complex. Every footstep counts. Personally I'm likely to be working that day so I'll instead do my best to provide some live commentary on events as they happen. But if you can please enjoy an afternoon with hundreds of thousands of like-minded people and take a pleasant stroll through Hong Kong. In keeping with this week's other major event in Wimbledon, London, that will put the ball firmly back in Beijing's court.