© Reuters. A police stands guard exterior a polling station through the District Council election in Hong Kong, China, December 10, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
2/5
By Jessie Pang and Joyce Zhou
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong holds its first “patriots only” district elections on Sunday as a nationwide safety crackdown imposed by Beijing additional marginalises previously well-liked opposition figures within the China-ruled metropolis.
The professional-China authorities has been in search of to spice up turnout, as some observers see massive numbers spurning the polls, in distinction to the final council elections in 2019, throughout Hong Kong’s mass pro-democracy protests, which drew a report 71% turnout and a landslide victory for the democratic camp.
Amendments launched in July slashed the immediately elected district council seats by practically 80% from 4 years in the past.
All candidates should now endure nationwide safety background checks and safe nominations from pro-government committees, successfully barring democrats, together with moderates and even some pro-Beijing figures.
The modifications additional slim electoral freedoms within the former colony that Britain returned to Chinese language rule in 1997. The crackdown underneath a 2020 China-imposed nationwide safety regulation has led to the arrests of former district councillors and the disbandment of main opposition events.
Whereas some western governments say the nationwide safety regulation has been used to crack down on dissent, China says it has introduced stability to the monetary hub after the protracted pro-democracy protests of 2019.
Hong Kong’s constitutional affairs secretary Eric Tsang warned of the dangers of “anti-China” disrupters in search of to undermine voting. Native media stated over 10,000 police could be deployed to make sure order on Sunday.
‘HARD TO TALK ABOUT DEMOCRACY’
Critics name the elections, through which solely 88 of the 470 seats are immediately elected, undemocratic.
“I would rather choose to be myself and stick with my original values and beliefs,” stated Johnny Chung, a pro-democracy district councillor who determined to stop working for public workplace.
For weeks the main pro-Beijing and pro-government events have been out in power, campaigning and festooning streets with posters and flyers in a bid to bolster turnout.
“It’s very hard to talk about democracy or democratisation anymore in today’s Hong Kong,” stated Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at Hong Kong’s Baptist College and a former pro-democracy lawmaker, who described the polls as “backtracking” on democracy.
“What they’re doing now is the installation of the so-called patriots-only governance structure.”
Senior officers together with metropolis chief John Lee, who beforehand stated turnout was not vital, have since gone on a blitz to advertise the elections, which they are saying are broadly consultant.
“You can see that we are campaigning every day and we are trying our best to get every vote,” stated Peggy Lee, a candidate working in Wanchai district on Hong Kong island.
“So it’s a real election.”
(This story has been refiled to appropriate the spelling of ‘disrupters’ in paragraph 7)
