海角大神

Candidates loyal to China鈥檚 Communist Party won a landslide victory in Hong Kong鈥檚 legislative elections after pro-democracy activists were imprisoned and authorities received the power to exclude those deemed inappropriate for office.

Candidates loyal to Beijing won a majority of the seats in Sunday鈥檚 election after the laws were changed to ensure that only pro-Beijing 鈥減atriots鈥� could run the city.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said during a news conference Monday she was 鈥渟atisfied鈥� with the election despite a 30.2% voter turnout聽鈥� the lowest since the British handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997.

She said that the number of registered voters reached 92.5%, a record high compared to the 2012 and 2016 elections, when around 70% of voters had registered.

鈥淔or registered voters, deciding whether they want to exercise their voting rights in a particular election is entirely a matter for themselves,鈥� she said.

鈥淚n this election, 1.35 million voters cast their votes. They did not just return candidates of their choice to LegCo, and I think it was also because of their support for the improved electoral system,鈥� said Ms. Lam, referring to the city鈥檚 Legislative Council.

Under the new laws, the number of directly elected lawmakers was reduced from 35 to 20, even as the legislature was expanded from 70 to 90 seats. Most of the lawmakers were appointed by largely pro-Beijing bodies, ensuring that they make up the majority of the legislature.

All candidates were also vetted by a largely pro-Beijing committee before they could be nominated.

Ms. Lam said that even if there was a high turnout based on 鈥減oor politics,鈥� such as the political polarization during the period of political strife in 2019, that is 鈥渘ot something we should be glad to have.鈥�

Starry Lee, an elected pro-Beijing legislative council candidate from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong party, said the 30% turnout was within 鈥済eneral public expectation.鈥�

鈥淎s I have mentioned before, this is a new system, this is a system that we call patriots administrating Hong Kong,鈥� Ms. Lee said.

鈥淭his is a different one from the previous one, therefore you cannot compare directly. And I believe that with the new system, people need time to get used to that.鈥�

The opposition camp has criticized the elections, with the largest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party, fielding no candidates for the first time since the 1997 handover.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said there were 鈥渕ultiple reasons鈥� for the decline in voter turnout.

鈥淚t is not only the impact of the pandemic, but also the disruption and sabotage of anti-China elements in Hong Kong and external forces,鈥� Mr. Zhao said at a daily briefing.

Some overseas pro-democracy activists, including London-based Nathan Law, urged a boycott of the vote, saying the elections were undemocratic. Under the new election laws, incitement to boycott the voting or to cast invalid votes could be punished by up to three years in jail and a 200,000 Hong Kong dollar ($26,500) fine.

Ms. Lam said she expects that work with the 90 legislators will be 鈥渧ery exciting鈥� because they have different opinions on many social issues.

Ms. Lam was expected to travel to Beijing later Monday on a duty-reporting trip, which she says is to give a full account to Beijing of the latest political and economic situation in Hong Kong.

鈥淚 expect to cover a wide range of issues on this particular duty visit because through two very decisive acts of the central authorities, Hong Kong is now back on the right track of 鈥榦ne country, two systems,鈥欌�� she said.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.