Chinese President Hu Jintao is visiting Hong Kong as the city marks 15 years under Chinese rule and inaugurates a new government.
Police scuffled with protesters who came out to demand an explanation for the suspicious death of Chinese dissident Li Wangyang this month. Li was a labor rights activist and one of the leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
One reporter was briefly detained after asking President Hu about the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on protesters.
Hong Kong protester speaks out
In a speech Saturday, the Chinese leader expressed confidence in the new government of Hong Kong, led by Leung Chun-ying. China's official news agency Xinhua quotes him as saying that the city leaders will be able to unite all sectors of society and lead them to turn Hong Kong into an international metropolis with "economic prosperity, political structural democracy and social harmony."
Hu also praised close ties between the mainland and Hong Kong, which has the status of China's special administrative region.
Hu arrived in Hong Kong Friday on a three-day trip. He will attend the inauguration of the new government Sunday at a harbor convention hall along with more than 2,000 other guests.
Protesters are planning to march in the area. Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents are expected to take to the streets Sunday at an annual July 1 rally to demand more independence from Beijing and protest the widening rich-poor gap.
Hong Kong's new chief executive is a wealthy property consultant. He takes over from outgoing leader Donald Tsang. Leung has already attracted protests from those who see him as to closely linked with Beijing.