But while victory for anti-China activists would be a massive coup, many still feel they are chasing an impossible cause. A new wave of anti-C.
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According to state-run Xinhua, China “has underscored its “resolute opposition” against any form of “Hong Kong independence” activities inside or outside of the special administrative region’s (SAR) Legislative Council (LegCo)”.
People queue to vote in Hong Kong on Sunday. A new wave of anti-China activists appeared headed for victory in Hon.
The vote for Legislative Council lawmakers is the first major election since 2014 pro-democracy street protests rocked the Asian financial hub, and the outcome could pave the way for a fresh round of political confrontations over Beijing’s control of the city. The two were were convicted last month for their roles in leading the protests, but received light sentences. Law, a cultural studies student at Lingnan University and e-sports fanatic, formed political party Demosistō this year with Joshua Wong after his student protest group Scholarism disbanded.
“I’m quite shocked. I think Hong Kongers really wanted change”, said Mr Law, 23, who took more than 50,000 votes to become the council’s youngest member.
“People are voting (for) a new way and a new future for the democratic movement”, he said after his win. Including Youngspirations’ Sixtus Baggio Leung, who was endorsed by pro-independence activist Edward Leung.
But at a media session yesterday, the Chief Executive said he thinks the election results “have nothing to do with the chances of anyone who aspires to be the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong”. “This is what Beijing should know”.
These lawmakers did not question China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong, which resumed in 1997 after more than a century of British rule. They are becoming increasingly anxious that Beijing is moving to erode the territory’s civil liberties, which are enshrined under the 1997 handover agreement that ensured Hong Kong’s autonomy for at least 50 years. Some were anxious that the pan-democratic camp – which held 27 seats to the pro-Beijing camp’s 43 – would lose seats in the election, granting the pro-Beijing camp the two-thirds majority necessary to pass its agenda through the legislature.
A record 2.2 million voters cast their ballots for the former, at a turnout rate of 58%, according to local election authorities.
Another rookie, 38-year-old land reform campaigner Eddie Chu, was the election’s biggest surprise, winning 84,121 votes, the highest number of votes received by any of the more than 200 candidates competing for 35 seats in geographic constituencies. Traditional democrats, who want regular voters to directly choose the city’s chief executive and all of its parliament-like Legislative Council, have been joined by the street protesters of 2014’s “umbrella” movement, who took direct action in search of similar goals. He too wants to focus on promoting a self-determination movement.
He said Hong Kong has faced an uptick in “political censorship” and the “suppression or interference with autonomy” since the 2014 protests.
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They are fighting for seats in the Legislative Council, or LegCo – Hong Kong’s lawmaking body – as concerns grow that Beijing is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city.
