TIMELINE: Political milestones in post-handover Hong Kong

(Reuters) - A record number of candidates including those in the pro-establishment or pro-Beijing camps and Hong Kong's pan-democratic camp go to the polls on Sunday as the territory holds its fourth legislative council ("LegCo") elections since its 1997 handover to China.

Beijing's pledge last December to usher in universal suffrage as promised in the city's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, by 2017, and the afterglow of China's successful Olympics have weakened the democratic camp's standing ahead of the vote, analysts say.

But democratic candidates are still expected to win the necessary one-third of the seats in the new legislature (at least 21 of the 60 seats) needed to veto any proposed amendments to the Basic Law and check the pro-Beijing administration's power.

Here are some milestones that detail shifting political tensions in Hong Kong since the handover.

-- July 1, 1997: Pro-Beijing Chief Executive, Tung Chee-hwa, and Provisional Legislative Council sworn in as Hong Kong returns to Chinese sovereignty after 156 years of British rule.

-- May 24, 1998: First multi-party vote. Democratic party sweeps elections for the new 60-member Legislative Council; taking 13 seats, versus the pro-Beijing DAB party's 10 seats.

-- June 26, 1999: China's parliament overturns Hong Kong's highest court on right-of-abode provisions in the Basic Law, sparking a constitutional crisis over judicial independence.

-- Sept 11, 2000: Second legislative elections: Democratic Party returns as single largest group, but with strength eroded.

-- January 12, 2001: Ex-civil service head Anson Chan resigns as Chief Secretary a year early. Donald Tsang takes over February 15.

-- February 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung's five-year term ends. Standing unopposed, Tung secures a second five-year term.

-- June 24: Tung names 14 "cabinet ministers" to run the 180,000-strong civil service, and appoints five advisers.

-- September 24: Tung announces anti-subversion law called Article 23 after pressure from Beijing. Rights groups protest.

-- July 1, 2003: About 500,000 people march against Article 23. Two ministers later resign; the bill is indefinitely shelved.

-- April 2, 2004: Two days after Beijing rules it can veto any changes to Hong Kong election laws, China's Wen Jiabao pledges the territory will ultimately have direct elections.

-- September 12: Legislative council election draws a record 55 percent turnout, with half the 60 seats directly elected.

-- March 11, 2005: Tung Chee-hwa resigns citing ill health, after weeks of speculation following a public rebuke by Chinese President Hu Jintao over his administration's performance. Donald Tsang takes over in June.

-- July 1: Tens of thousands of people take to the streets to call for full democracy, nine years into Chinese rule.

-- March 25, 2007: Chief Executive Donald Tsang wins a new five-year term, defeating pro-democracy lawmaker Alan Leong in Hong Kong's first contested leadership election.

-- Dec 29: Beijing sets timetable for granting the universal suffrage promised in the Basic Law. It pledges direct votes may be held for Chief Executive in 2017, and Legislative Council in 2020, with two new electoral methods to be settled by 2012.

-- Sept 7, 2008: Fourth Legco elections.

Sources: Reuters

(Compiled by Gillian Murdoch, Beijing Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Bill Tarrant)