Time for Beijing to rethink Hong Kong script after pan-democrat landslide, Chinese analysts say
- The results of the district council elections will boost the power of the non-establishment camp and possibly influence the race for the city’s leader, observers say
- A central government official agreed that Beijing was surprised by the landslide win for the pan-democrats
“Beijing was psychologically prepared, but it did not expect [that the pro-establishment camp] would suffer such a severe defeat,” Wuhan University law professor Qin Qianhong said.
A central government official agreed that Beijing was surprised by the landslide win for the pan-democrats.
“We know it was going to be a tough fight as some pro-establishment candidates said they faced verbal abuse when they walked the district, but the number of seats [the pro-establishment camp] won was below our expectation,” he said.
A record 2.9 million voters, representing 71.2 per cent of the registered electorate, cast their ballots in the weekend polls, up from 47 per cent in the 2015 district council election and 58.3 per cent in the 2016 Legislative Council election.
The pro-democracy camp won 392 of the 452 seats to control 17 out of the city’s 18 district councils.
