The massive public demonstrations by students and young members of the middle class that have roiled Hong Kong in recent weeks are ostensibly demands for democracy.

But they actually reflect frustration among a population that has been poorly governed by a succession of leaders who were picked by China's central government more for their loyalty than for their competence.

In fact, the recent near-uprising was the culmination of a long series of demonstrations since Hong Kong's handover from the United Kingdom to China in 1997, after Chris Patten, the last British governor failed to persuade China to allow Hong Kong to establish a genuine democratic government.