Hong Kong's Lam in Beijing to report on 'patriots only' poll

BEIJING – Hong Kong’s person Carrie Lam was gathering with apical leaders successful Beijing connected Wednesday to study to them connected the territory’s archetypal legislative elections held nether caller laws ensuring that lone “patriots” loyal to the ruling Chinese Communist Party could tally arsenic candidates.

As expected, Sunday’s elections for the 90-seat Legislative Council were swept by party-backed politicians who bushed retired the dwindling fig of moderates and independents.

Leading figures successful the pro-democracy absorption person been intimidated into silence, jailed oregon forced into exile.

Just 20 of the seats were straight elected portion 40 were filled by members of a Beijing-appointed committee that selects the territory's main executive.

Lam said she was satisfied with the election, contempt a 30.2% elector turnout — the lowest since the British handed Hong Kong implicit to China successful 1997. All candidates were vetted by a mostly pro-Beijing committee earlier they could beryllium nominated and respective were disqualified implicit statements oregon actions successful the past.

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The elections had been postponed for a twelvemonth — ostensibly owed to a spike successful COVID-19 cases — aft the absorption swept elections for territory counselors. The polls besides followed wide and progressively convulsive antigovernment protests successful 2019 that prompted China's rubber-stamp legislature to enforce a sweeping National Security Law connected Hong Kong, followed by a reorganization of the electoral process and translation of the constitution of the Legislative Council to stack it with pro-Beijing loyalists.

The absorption campy criticized the elections, with the largest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party, fielding nary candidates for the archetypal clip since the 1997 handover.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Monday determination were “multiple reasons” for the diminution successful elector turnout.

“It is not lone the interaction of the pandemic, but besides the disruption and sabotage of anti-China elements successful Hong Kong and outer forces,” Zhao said astatine a regular briefing.

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Some overseas pro-democracy activists, including London-based Nathan Law, had urged a boycott of the vote, saying the elections were undemocratic. Under the caller predetermination laws, incitement to boycott the voting oregon to formed invalid votes could beryllium punished by up to 3 years successful jailhouse and a 200,000 Hong Kong dollar ($26,500) fine.

Prior to her departure for Beijing, Lam, who is nether a U.S. visa ban, said she expected to “cover a wide scope of issues connected this peculiar work sojourn due to the fact that done 2 precise decisive acts of the cardinal authorities, Hong Kong is present backmost connected the close way of ‘one country, 2 systems'" — referring to the progressively threadbare model by which Hong Kong was to clasp its ain political, societal and fiscal institutions for 50 years aft the handover.

In a associated connection released by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the overseas ministers of Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States expressed “grave concern” implicit the erosion of antiauthoritarian elements of Hong Kong’s electoral strategy and increasing restrictions connected state of code and assembly.

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“Protecting abstraction for peaceful alternate views is the astir effectual mode to guarantee the stableness and prosperity of Hong Kong,” they said.

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