Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Forces Score Landslide Win

By William Gallo
Election winner candidate Kelvin Lam, right, and pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, second right, wave to people and thank for their support, outside South Horizons Station in Hong Kong, Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

HONG KONG - Hong Kong pro-democracy forces scored a sweeping victory in local elections Sunday that saw a record number of voters deliver a stunning rebuke to Beijing.
Opposition candidates won nearly 90 percent of contested seats, according to public broadcaster RTHK. 

The democrats will now control 17 of 18 district councils, after having previously controlled zero.
The vote was a major symbolic blow to pro-China forces that dominate Hong Kong politics, and the latest evidence of continued public support for a five-month-old pro-democracy movement that has become increasingly aggressive.
“Hong Kongers have spoken out, loud and clear. The international community must acknowledge that, almost six months in, public opinion has NOT turned against the movement,” student activist Joshua Wong said on Twitter.

Joshua Wong 黃之鋒
✔@joshuawongcf
This is historic. Early returns suggest a landslide victory for the opposition camp. Hong Kongers have spoken out, loud and clear. The international community must acknowledge that, almost six months in, public opinion has NOT turned against the movement. https://twitter.com/jeffreychngo/status/1198648055349727232 …Jeffrey Ngo 敖卓軒
✔@jeffreychngo
Replying to @jeffreychngo
The total number of votes cast today is over 2.94 million, with a final voter turnout of 71.2 percent, the highest ever in Hong Kong’s history. It was 58.28 percent in 2016 and 47.01 in 2015. Thank you, Hong Kongers!
4,154
6:34 PM - Nov 24, 2019

"This is a sweeping victory, far beyond people's expectations,” David Zweig, professor emeritus at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said.
The vote will not significantly change the balance of power in Hong Kong’s quasi-democratic political system. 

District council members have no power to pass legislation; they deal mainly with hyperlocal issues, such as noise complaints and bus stop locations.
However, the district council vote is seen as one of the most reliable indicators of public opinion, since it is the only fully democratic election in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong's Beijing-friendly executive Carrie Lam issued a statement saying the government respects the results of the election, and that it would listen humbly to the opinions of the members of the public and reflect on them seriously.

Candidates from pro-Beijing political party bow to apologize for their defeat in the local district council election in Hong Kong, Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Massive turnout
Nearly 3 million people voted in the election -- a record high for Hong Kong, and more than double the turnout of the previous district council election in 2015.
Voters formed long lines that snaked around city blocks outside polling stations across the territory, many waiting more than an hour to vote.
“This amount of people I've never seen. There are so many people,” said Felix, who works in the real estate industry and voted in the central business district.
By nighttime, most of the long lines at voting stations had tapered off, but nearby sidewalks remained filled with candidates and their supporters who held signs and chanted slogans in an attempt to persuade passersby to cast last-minute votes.
“I’m tired, but I think it’s more important to fight,” said Elvis Yam, who waited in line for an hour to vote in the morning and then volunteered to hold a campaign sign for a pro-democracy candidate in the University District.
Police promised a heavy security presence at voting locations. 

But outside many polling stations, there was no visible police presence. 

At others, teams of riot police waited in nearby vans. 

There were no reports of major clashes.
Hong Kong has seen five months of pro-democracy protests. 

The protests have escalated in recent weeks, with smaller groups of hard-core protesters engaging in fierce clashes with police.
The vote shows that, despite the violence, Hong Kong society continues to support the push for democratic reforms, said Zweig, who heads Transnational China Consulting.
“If the government itself doesn’t respond in some significant way, you’re going to get your million man march again. You’re going to get people back on the streets,” he said.

Wider impact?
Even though district councils have little power, the vote could affect how the territory’s more influential Legislative Council and chief executive are selected in the future.
District councilors are able to select a small number of people to the 1,200-member election committee that chooses Hong Kong’s chief executive. 

They also have the ability to select or run for certain seats in the Legislative Council.

Supporters of pro-democracy candidate Angus Wong celebrate after he won in district council elections in Hong Kong, early Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

“That’s a big deal,” said Emily Lau, a former Legislative Council member and prominent member of the pro-democracy camp. 

“Because of this constitutional linkage, it makes the significance of the district council much bigger than its powers show you.”
Hong Kong saw a major surge in voter registration, particularly among young people. 

Nearly 386,000 people have registered to vote in the past year, the most since at least 2003.
Many Hong Kongers are concerned about what they see as an erosion of the "one country, two systems" policy that Beijing has used to govern Hong Kong since it was returned by Britain in 1997.
China said it is committed to the “one country, two systems” principle, but has slammed the protesters as rioters. 

In some cases, Chinese state media have compared the protesters to the terror groups Taliban or Islamic State.
In an apparent response to the Hong Kong elections, the People’s Daily, a Communist Party-controlled paper, posted a video on Twitter documenting what it said was the U.S. history of intervention in foreign elections, including in Hong Kong.
Donald Trump has been inconsistent when talking about the protests, in some cases calling them riots and in other cases saying he supports them.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for all sides to refrain from violence, but said the Hong Kong government “bears primary responsibility” for the conflict.

Hong Kong's fight for freedom

China can silence me. But it can’t silence Hong Kong’s movement.

By Joshua Wong

'It is a war here now.' In Hong Kong, what began as peaceful protests has become a de facto war about the future of democracy. 

This week I was deprived of the right to participate in Hong Kong’s political system.
On Tuesday, Hong Kong authorities barred me from running in local elections for district council. 

I was the only candidate barred. 

Laura Aron, the officer who made the decision, claimed that my nomination was invalid largely because of my affiliation with Demosisto, a pro-democracy party that I helped co-found. 

She said she did not believe I would uphold Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
In reality, the decision to target me was clearly politically driven, based on my role championing democratic rights in Hong Kong and engaging with the issue at an international level. 

This is nothing short of political screening and censorship.
In mid-October, I received two letters from Dorothy Ma, an officer who was screening my candidacy, asking me to “clarify” my political views. 

Though I had no desire to play along with attempts at censorship, I responded explaining my position and noting that authorities should not screen candidates. 

I did not hear back from Ma for a week. 

Then, when I finally visited Ma’s office, I was told she was on leave due to sickness and was being replaced by Aron. 

The replacement process lacked transparency and did not follow the normal practice of appointing an officer who worked under Ma or was from a neighboring district. 

Soon after, Aron announced the decision to bar me.
When I first decided to run for the district council position, I understood that Beijing might decide to thwart my candidacy. 

The decision, and the suspicious way it was made, exposes to the world just how much Hong Kong is already under Beijing’s authoritarian grip.
This is not the first time Hong Kong authorities have infringed on my political rights and those of my fellow activists. 

I myself have been placed in jail three times for my activism. 

After spending several months in prison this year for my role in the Umbrella Movement, I was released in June, but was arrested again in August alongside my colleague Agnes Chow for participating in the protests. 

Previously, the Hong Kong government disqualified six elected, pro-democracy legislators between 2016 and 2017.
This most recent outrage shows that Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have not learned from protests. 

The protesters are calling for Beijing to respect its own promise to allow Hong Kong a democratic system until 2047, under the “one country, two systems” policy. 

This was a chance for Hong Kong’s government to show it had heard the cries of Hong Kong’s young generation and to bring a youth voice into the district council.
But Beijing is not even willing to allow Hong Kong a short window of freedom. 

Along with recent crackdowns against demonstrators on the streets, this highlights once again the importance of the protesters’ five demands for the Hong Kong government: to fully withdraw the controversial extradition bill that triggered the protests; establish a commission to look into police brutality; retract the description of protesters as “rioters;” provide amnesty to those arrested in the protests; and commit to universal suffrage for electing the chief executive and entire Legislative Council until 2047.
This is a moment when the international community must speak up. 

In the United States, the House just passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. 

After learning of the news of my barring, several senators have called for its swift passage in the Senate, too. 

This is crucial. 

Three senators have also introduced the Hong Kong Be Water Act, which would sanction government officials responsible for cracking down on freedom of expression in Hong Kong. 

These actions would signal to Beijing that it should loosen its grip or face international pressure.
My candidacy may have been barred. 

But our movement continues — and this has only catalyzed more anger and frustration among young Hong Kongers hoping for change. 

My friend and colleague Kelvin Lam has bravely decided to run in my place. 

Angus Wong and Tiffany Yuen — who were staffers under Nathan Law, a lawmaker disqualified in 2017 at Beijing’s behest — are also running for office. 

I will spend the next few weeks campaigning for them, and will continue to push for human rights in Hong Kong going forward.
And on Nov. 24, Hong Kongers must vote to have their voices heard. 

The election is a referendum on Beijing’s actions, and an opportunity to show the strength of our will and stand up for our rights. 

Beijing can bar me from running, but I refuse to be silenced. 

Democracy begins on the ground — and China cannot silence us all.