Hong Kong’s Young Democrats

“I’m bearing the trust and support of many people. I want to do something to help”, said 28-year-old Maicy Leung, who was in a snaking queue of several hundred people. Eddie Chu, a 38-year-old social activist, claimed victory with 84,000 votes.

Several veteran democrats lost their seats, as voters backed a new batch of younger democrats espousing self-determination and a more confrontational stance with China.

Student leader Joshua Wong (centre) greets candidate Nathan Law (2nd R) as supporters share their joy after Law won in the Legislative Council election in Hong Kong, China, September 5, 2016.

That represents a break with the established mainstream “pan-democrat” parties, who have demanded voters be able to elect more lawmakers as well as the city’s top leader, or chief executive – now chosen by a panel of pro-Beijing elites – but never challenged the idea that Hong Kong is part of China.

Thus, there is likely to be greater dissension within the ranks of pan-democrats and greater confrontation between legislators and the government. Of the 35 “geographical constituency” seats chosen by popular vote, 16 went to establishment candidates and 19 to a mixture of moderate democrats, localists, radicals of other stripes and independent candidates with pro-democracy leanings.

In addition, 21 candidates contested five seats in the District Council (second) functional constituency, commonly known as the “super seats”.

Will these results change anything?

The statement, issued by the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, noted that certain organizations and candidates were publicly advocating for “Hong Kong independence”, capitalizing on the exposure afforded to them because of the election for the sixth-term LegCo of the Hong Kong SAR.

Localists put the interests of Hong Kong before those of Beijing.

“I think the central message is very clear”, said Dixon Sing, a political analyst at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

“The way the Legislative Council is structured it still remains effectively a pro-establishment body”. “He had no hope of counteracting this emergence of separatist sentiment among the younger generation”.

Another Youngspiration candidate, Baggio Leung, who has openly supported independence, also took a seat. “Ideologically they’re talking about independence and they want to assert themselves”.

A recent opinion survey showed that nearly 40 percent of young people in Hong Kong favor independence for the city in 2047, when existing arrangements with China expire.

Sunday’s election was marred by accusations of fraud, an uncommon occurrence in the city that was tranferred to Chinese control from Britain in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement. With the freedom to vote, they reject Beijing’s increasing crackdown on basic freedoms on the mainland and its attempts to influence their own governments.

Hong Kong is facing further political turmoil at a time when its mainland-dependent economy is going through the “worst time for 20 years”, according to the city’s finance chief.

“Independence is not realistic at all”, said Elizabeth Quat, a member of a pro-Beijing party.