HONG KONG, Dec. 20 (Reuters) – Pro-Beijing candidates have won a reshuffle in the Hong Kong-only-patriotic assembly election, which critics say is anti-democratic.

With 30.2% of the vote, half of the previous referendum in 2016 was condemned by pro-democracy activists after China imposed a broad national security law and made electoral changes to further consolidate the city from its dictatorial grip. .

Almost all the seats were taken by pro-Beijing and pro-establishment candidates, some of whom cheered on stage at the counting center and chanted “victory is guaranteed.”

Hong Kong President Gary Lam told a news conference on Monday that the turnout was “really low” but could not say why.

“But 1.35 million people are coming to the polls – this is not to say that this is not an election without much support from the people,” Lam said.

When asked if the low turnout was not a general mandate for his party, Starry Lee, leader of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance (DAP) for Progress and Progress in Hong Kong, which won half of the directly elected seats, told Patriots. – Rules will only improve administration.

Speaking to reporters at the counting center, he said, “This system needs some time for people to change themselves.

The election – which can only be contested by government-tested candidates as “patriots” – has been criticized as anti-democratic by some foreign governments, rights groups and major Hong Kong pro-democracy parties that did not take part in the vote.

Most of the dozen or so candidates who call themselves moderates, including former Democrat legislator Frederick Fung, have succumbed to pro-Beijing rivals and failed to win a seat.

“Pushing people (to vote) is not easy. I think they are indifferent,” Fung told Reuters.

The previous record for assembly elections held after the return of the city from British rule to Chinese rule in 1997 was 43.6% in 2000.

China’s liaison office in Hong Kong, which represents the Beijing government in Hong Kong, described the election as “a successful practice of democracy with the characteristics of Hong Kong.”

In a 57-page white paper released on Monday, the Chinese government said it had provided consistent support for the development of Hong Kong’s “democratic system” and criticized the pro-democracy protests, which in 2019 were often violent. read more

Lam, who traveled to Beijing this week, said in his annual report to state leaders that the document would timely dismiss criticism of the election by foreign governments and the media.

HK style ‘democracy’

Political analysts say voting in elections where pro-democratic candidates are largely absent is a testament to legitimacy, and repression under the Security Act and other laws has imprisoned many. Democrats The one who wanted to run first, was forced to deport the others. read more

Under an election shake-up announced by China in March, the proportion of directly elected seats was halved to less than a quarter or 20 seats. read more

Forty seats were selected by a group of Beijing loyalists, and the remaining 30 seats were filled by professional and business sectors such as finance and engineering.

The turnout for these professional groups dropped from 74% in 2016 to 32.2%. Some sectors that have traditionally been pro-democracy have had very low rates, including education, social welfare and law.

In 2019, in the last major city election for district council seats, the turnout was 71%, with Democrats winning 90% of the 452 seats.

Xinhua, the state news agency, said the results proved “the real will of the people”, while the pro-Beijing newspaper Ta Kung Pao described it as the “most successful vote” since 1997.

Sunny Cheung, a Democrat who fled to the United States to escape prosecution under the Defense Act, said most Hong Kong people “boycotted the election to express their dissatisfaction with the world.”

Additional Statement by Jesse Bank; Written by James Bamfred and Marius Zaharia; Editing Stephen Coates

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