Back Off, Beijing!

In the days leading up to last week's pro-democracy march in Hong Kong, organizers were worried that one of the proposed slogans, "Return Power to the People," might be too provocative for China's leaders. That was before hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. Ignoring convection-oven heat and a pollution level at which the elderly and infirm are warned not to go outside, the numbers alone sent a pretty clear, and startling, message to Beijing: Hong Kong has discovered People Power.

Organizers say the July 1 march was as big as the one last year, attracting...