More than 610,000 Hong Kong residents defied government warnings and a fresh COVID-19 outbreak to vote in an unofficial primary over the weekend, a strong turnout that signals continued resistance to Beijing’s decision to impose a broad National Security Law two weeks ago.
Those who turned out — representing more than 13 percent of registered voters — cast ballots in the two-day vote to narrow down the opposition candidates competing in elections for the territory’s Legislative Council set for Sept. 6.
The turnout, which was more than three times organizers’ expected tally, came despite government statements that the effort could violate provisions of the new security legislation.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The results were originally meant to come out late yesterday, but were delayed amid lengthy vote-counting.
However, that still gives the selected candidates plenty of time to officially register when the window opens later this month.
Those selected must still overcome calls for disqualification by pro-Beijing politicians, with more moderate pro-democracy groups on Sunday issuing a call for their supporters to challenge more radical “localist” candidates.
“People took this opportunity to make their voice heard,” pro-democracy Hong Kong Legislator Alvin Yeung (楊岳橋) told Bloomberg Television yesterday. “We’re talking about 600,000 people. It’s not a small number. And remember, this is not an election organized by the government. It’s organized by civil society. And so this is amazing.”
The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute — which helped the democrats conduct the primary — yesterday said that all votes on Hong Kong Island were counted by 5pm.
Counting was going on for other areas and it said that it expected to be finished by about noon today.
“Hong Kong people just made a miracle by telling the world that more democratic candidates should join the elections,” said former legislator Au Nok-hin (區諾軒), one of the organizers.
Some pro-establishment politicians also sought to undermine the credibility of the primary process, with former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) writing on Facebook that people were able to vote multiple times.
Au said in a Facebook post on Sunday that if people made a mistake and voted twice, only the first vote would be counted.
In related news, pro-democracy activist Nathan Law (羅冠聰) yesterday said he had arrived in London after fleeing Hong Kong following passage of the new security legislation.
“With my backpack and small luggage in hand, I boarded my night flight. I had no idea what future awaited me. Only one thing seemed certain. My destination: London,” Law said on Twitter.
“There’s always one message I have: Hong Kongers will never give up. We aren’t fractured. On the contrary, we’re well-equipped to face the next difficult battle,” he wrote.
In other developments, the US is weighing restricted options to deal with China over its recent moves in Hong Kong, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, but steps against Hong Kong’s financial system risk hurting US, Western and Hong Kong companies and consumers.
Measures such as more targeted sanctions against Chinese officials and trade moves against products made in Hong Kong would have little impact on Beijing’s integration of the territory into the mainland’s political and security system, the Journal added.
Earlier, a Bloomberg report said US President Donald Trump’s top advisers had weighed proposals to undermine the Hong Kong currency’s peg to the US dollar, although the idea did not appear to have gained traction.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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