Hong Kong’s battered and bruised leader on Monday said she respected election results that handed a big victory to pro-democracy candidates, vowing to “listen humbly” to the voters and to “seriously reflect” on the stunning results.
“The government will certainly listen humbly to citizens’ opinions and reflect on them seriously,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in a statement issued by the government, but offered no specifics on the likely response.
The pro-democracy candidates grabbed 388 seats — a whopping net gain of 263 — of the 452 in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s 18 district councils after months of sometimes-violent unrest, according to local media.
The establishment held on to only 59 seats after the rout. Five went to independents.
A record 71 percent of Hong Kong’s 4.1 million registered voters cast ballots in the city’s only fully democratic elections, well exceeding the 47 percent turnout in the same poll four years ago, when pro-democracy candidates won just 100 seats.
“There are various analyses and interpretations in the community in relation to the results, and quite a few are of the view that the results reflect people’s dissatisfaction with the current situation and the deep-seated problems in society,” Lam added in response to the rebuke of her leadership and of Beijing.
The city leader has stubbornly dismissed calls for political reform and repeatedly suggested that a silent majority supported her administration and opposed the protest movement.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters during a visit to Tokyo on Monday that any attempts to undermine Hong Kong will fail.
“No matter what kind of things happen in Hong Kong, Hong Kong is a part of Chinese territory,” he said. “Any attempts to destroy Hong Kong or harm Hong Kong’s stability and development cannot possibly succeed.”
And Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing “resolutely supports” Lam and backs the police and judiciary in Hong Kong in “punishing relevant violent and illegal behaviors,” according to Agence France-Presse.
But opponents quickly called on Lam to accede to a five-point list of demands, including direct elections for the city’s legislature and leadership, as well as a probe into alleged police brutality against protesters.
“The government must squarely face public opinion,” said Wu Chi-wai, the chairman of the Democratic Party, Hong Kong’s largest anti-establishment party.
The election results could force the central government in Beijing to rethink how to handle the unrest. The district councils have little power, but the vote became a referendum on public support for the protests.
“It’s nothing short of a revolution. This is a landslide,” said Willy Lam, a political expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “It’s a sound repudiation of the Carrie Lam administration and shows the silent majority are behind the demands of the protesters.”
But it does not mean Beijing — which blames foreign powers for fomenting the unrest in the former British colony, which was returned to China in 1997 — will budge on the demonstrators’ demands, he added.
Pro-democracy councilor Paul Zimmerman said in a speech outside the Polytechnic University that “the people of Hong Kong have spoken.”
“Now is time for the government to respond. Don’t fail Hong Kong again,” he said.
Many pro-Beijing political heavyweights were defeated, including controversial lawmaker Junius Ho, who is reviled by protesters for supporting a bloody mob attack on demonstrators in July.
Ho was stabbed with a knife during campaigning this month.
The winners included many young activists and a candidate who replaced Joshua Wong, the only person barred from running in the election.
Pro-democracy rally organizer Jimmy Sham, who was beaten by hammer-wielding assailants last month, also emerged victorious, as did a pro-democracy lawmaker who had part of his ear bitten off by an assailant.
Millions took to the streets earlier this year after Lam’s government introduced a bill to allow extraditions to China’s opaque judicial system.
The bill was eventually withdrawn, but the resulting public rage unleashed broader demands and led to violent clashes between police and protesters.
Celebrations broke out outside polling stations overnight when results were announced. On Monday, dozens of supporters gathered in a business district for a victory rally, where a woman popped a champagne bottle and poured drinks for everyone.
“This is historic. As our city plummets from being semi-autonomous to semi-authoritarian, we react by showing what’s democracy in action,” Wong tweeted.
With Post wires
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMidWh0dHBzOi8vbnlwb3N0LmNvbS8yMDE5LzExLzI1L2hvbmcta29uZy1sZWFkZXItY2FycmllLWxhbS12b3dzLXRvLWxpc3Rlbi1odW1ibHktYWZ0ZXItcHJvLWRlbW9jcmFjeS12aWN0b3J5LWF0LXBvbGxzL9IBeWh0dHBzOi8vbnlwb3N0LmNvbS8yMDE5LzExLzI1L2hvbmcta29uZy1sZWFkZXItY2FycmllLWxhbS12b3dzLXRvLWxpc3Rlbi1odW1ibHktYWZ0ZXItcHJvLWRlbW9jcmFjeS12aWN0b3J5LWF0LXBvbGxzL2FtcC8?oc=5
2019-11-25 12:42:00Z
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