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Hong Kong’s Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (anti-ELAB) movement has been going on for over five months. Reverberations from the protests have penetrated the cloistered halls of Hong Kong’s government. On November 24th, Hongkongers turned out in droves to vote at the District Council elections. The usually mundane affair saw a record-breaking voter turnout of 71.2%. The pro-Beijing camp was utterly crushed, retaining only 58 out of 452 seats, effectively ceding control of the council. The pro-democracy camp won a resounding victory by nabbing 388 seats, turning them into the clear majority. They are now in a position to influence the next election of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. How will Hong Kong’s District Council election, a local affair on the same level as Taiwan’s village chief elections, shape the destiny of the anti-ELAB movement, the future of Hong Kong’s domestic politics, and even its relations with China? To find out more, CommonWealth takes you to the front line in Hong Kong to witness the referendum that rocked the world.

It’s ten-thirty in the evening on November 24th. Voting for the sixth Hong Kong District Council elections has officially closed. 7.4 million people across Hong Kong are glued to their television sets and smartphones as yellow dots blossomed across the map of Hong Kong, turning the blank, white slate into a field of warm yellow light.

By ten o’clock the next morning, the results are in: the pro-democracy camp, represented by the yellow dots on the map, has won a clear majority of seats in the District Council elections. All in all, they won 388 seats, at least 200 more than they won in the last election. As for the pro-Beijing camp, which previously held nearly seventy percent of the seats, only 58 candidates were elected; they lost more than 200 seats.

The Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (anti-ELAB) movement that started in June and continues to this very day has turned politics in Hong Kong on its head. The Hong Kong government reports that voter turnout for the District Council elections was 71.2%, the highest ever in the history of Hong Kong. An estimated 2.94 million people voted.

Photo by Chien-Ying Chiu/CW

A Vote Against China and the Establishment

The District Council elections are not a grand affair. Its equivalent in Taiwan is an election of village chiefs. To enjoy such high voter turnout, and to see the voters elevate the pro-democracy camp so decisively while defeating the pro-Beijing camp so soundly—all this hinges on the fact that Hongkongers viewed this election as a chance to cast a vote of no confidence against the government of Hong Kong, and by extension, against Beijing itself.

“This was more than an election. We want to tell the world that the people of Hong Kong will decide the future of Hong Kong,” Jimmy Sham (岑子杰) tells CommonWealth magazine. He leans on a crutch as he speaks; as the convener of the Civil Human Rights Front (民間人權陣線; CHRF), he was attacked and injured while taking part in anti-ELAB protests.

Photo by Chien-Ying Chiu/CW

Sham ran in this year’s District Council elections. As a representative of the pro-democracy camp, he descended on Lek Yuen (瀝源) in Sha Tin District (沙田) to compete against pro-Beijing incumbent Wong Yue-hon (黃宇翰). Sham won handily with 3,283 votes and became the new councillor. The afternoon before the election, he set up his campaign booth next to the bustling Sha Tin Market. In front of a red banner with the slogan “Every Citizen Should Speak Out, Kick Out Tyranny” (全民表態、踢走暴政) written on it, Sham shook hands and took photographs with his supporters. He encouraged everyone to join his fight for democracy.

As the anti-ELAB movement continued to heat up, confrontations between protestors and police occurred throughout Hong Kong. With this as the backdrop, it’s no wonder the District Council elections transformed into an unofficial referendum on the government of Hong Kong. Whether you sported a “yellow ribbon” in support of the pro-democracy camp, or a “blue ribbon” in solidarity with the establishment, this election was a chance for you to take control of the fate of Hong Kong.

An Unplanned Referendum: The Awakening of Hong Kong Youth

“It is in fact a referendum,” observes Nelson Lee (李家翹), Lecturer at the Department of Government and Public Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Hongkongers are consciously making a connection between this local affair and an unplanned, region-wide referendum. They are using their vote to voice their opinion on a number of issues, ranging from their stance on the Extradition Law, police conduct during the protests, relations between China and Hong Kong, and whether there’s a future for the “one country, two systems” principle in this former British colony.

This is why the people of Hong Kong put aside their cynicism and turned out in droves to participate in this election. Both camps did everything in their power to “get out the vote”. They implored supporters to wake up early and go out there as soon as possible to vote. Beginning at seven-thirty on the morning of the 24th, long lines of voters appeared all over Hong Kong’s eighteen districts. In key battlegrounds such as Sha Tin and Kowloon City, the wait to vote could take several hours.

Photo by Chien-Ying Chiu/CW

“For the past few days we’ve been reminding one another, go out and vote!” Carol works at a multinational bank in Hong Kong. She says that in the past, young and middle-class voters who supported the pro-democracy camp often had lower turnout than older, pro-establishment voters. But the Hong Kong government’s mishandling of the anti-ELAB movement and the police brutality toward protesters have “awoken” something in the heart of Hongkongers. They became determined to use their votes to vent their discontent toward the government.

Throughout history, the District Council was purely a regional committee in Hong Kong. Its function was merely advisory; it held no legislative power. Its main purpose was to advise the government on local matters. Whether a candidate was elected or not during the routine District Council elections mostly depended on how deep their local connections and pockets were. This was advantageous to candidates from the pro-establishment camp.

Before this year’s election, the pro-Beijing camp held nearly seventy percent of the seats in the District Council. They won over 53% of votes and were an unshakeable power in local politics.

Photo by Chien-Ying Chiu/CW

Younger Candidates Usher In a New Age for Hong Kong

But the anti-ELAB movement has brought the winds of change to Hong Kong.

For instance, this is the first time there was no “white district” in the election. A white district is where only one candidate runs for election and becomes the undisputed winner. In order to avoid letting pro-Beijing candidates get away with winning uncontested, candidates from the pro-democracy camp ran in every district, creating an unprecedented number of candidates for voters to choose from: 1,090 in total. Many candidates are first-timers with no prior political experience. Some are even university students.

The inclusion of younger candidates injected new blood into the electorate of Hong Kong.

Unlike elections in Taiwan, citizens of Hong Kong must register to vote in the District Council elections. There were 393,000 new voters in this election. 48% of them were between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. Even students from Hong Kong who were studying in Taiwan returned home just to vote. As younger voters tended to be more progressive and democratic, higher voter turnout was naturally advantageous for the pro-democracy camp.

“This is a sea change for the political landscape of Hong Kong; it’s the dawn of a new generation,” says Lee. This election saw both camps fielding younger candidates to appeal to the electorate. Their entry into the District Council elections will help change a political ecosystem that’s been too rigid and geriatric for a very long time.

Moving and Shaking the 2020 Chief Executive Election

More importantly, even though the District Council is low on the totem pole, its councillors have the power to influence the election for Chief Executive.

Out of the 1,194 members in Hong Kong’s Election Committee, 117 members are elected from district councillors. Because the District Council used to belong firmly to the pro-Beijing camp, these seats had always been theirs for the taking. That won’t be the case next time. A District Council dominated by the pro-democracy camp can be expected to wield greater power in the next Chief Executive election. It’s not impossible they will elect a new Chief Executive who is sympathetic to Hong Kong’s push for democracy.

Whether it’s the awakening of a new political generation, or a introduction of new movers and shakers in the next Chief Executive election, Lee thinks the result of the District Council elections can be seen as the representation of popular sentiment across Hong Kong. It’s also a signal to the global community that the people of Hong Kong support the anti-ELAB movement and are determined to pursue common values such as freedom and democracy.

As the battlefront in the war over the anti-ELAB movement moved from the streets into the halls of government, the establishment found itself backed into a corner. Beijing and the government of Hong Kong must come up with something to respond to the people’s demands.

“Besides violent suppression, the government must find a way to win hearts and minds. They must do something to prove they are listening to the people,” says Anthony Cheung (張炳良), the former Secretary for Transport and Housing, and the current Research Chair Professor of Public Administration at The Education University of Hong Kong.

Photo by Chien-Ying Chiu/CW

Cheung says among the protestors’ five key demands, there is the most popular support behind the demand for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry. Whether it’s the decision to amend the extradition law or the conduct of police officers during the protests, the government needs to quickly and clearly investigate what happened, hold people accountable, and unveil the truth to the public.

Beijing Can No Longer Dodge the Question of Universal Suffrage

Next, if the Chinese government really wanted to win back hearts and minds in Hong Kong, recalling the current Chief Executive and reforming the government would be the second ace in Beijing’s sleeve.

Financial Times reports that if Beijing gives the go-ahead, Carrie Lam will step down ahead of time and an election for the new Chief Executive will be held in an attempt to quell public outrage.

Sources say the topic of replacing the Chief Executive has already floated around Hong Kong’s political sphere. If Beijing decides to oust Lam, the nomination and election of her replacement can take place as early as March of next year. The pro-Beijing camp will nominate a candidate from its current line-up of heavy-hitters in the political and business arena to face off against the pro-democracy camp’s nominee. Whoever wins will take office in July of 2020, two months ahead of the legislative election in September. Interested parties are already taking action behind the scenes to prepare for the possibility of a heated contest for the position of Chief Executive.

Photo by Chien-Ying Chiu/CW

But Cheung points out that even if a new Chief Executive was to be elected, it would not address the root cause of the ongoing anti-ELAB movement. That is, China’s governance of Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems” principle is clearly problematic, and Beijing needs to respond to Hongkongers’ demand for universal suffrage. Therefore, Beijing’s third and last ace is political reform in both China and Hong Kong. The people of Hong Kong and the Chinese government must renegotiate a form of universal suffrage that’s acceptable to both sides. This is the only way to resolve Hong Kong’s political stalemate—a dilemma that’s existed since its reunification with China in 1997.

Over five months of street protests have led to an unprecedented sea change in Hong Kong’s politics. The people of Hong Kong have cast their vote of no confidence. Whether the result of their referendum will be accepted; whether the conflict will escalate or gradually defuse—all this depends on what Beijing and the government of Hong Kong choose as their next step.

【Annie Zhang Column on HK Protest】

♦ From 'Be Water' to 'Liberate Hong Kong' - The Evolution

♦ Decoding the Deep-Seated Reasons Behind the Awakening of HK

♦ Why One Country, Two Systems Framework Could Survive in Name Only

【More Insights】

♦ Anson Chan: ‘Electing a Leader Won’t Turn HK into Beijing’s Enemy’

♦ Violence Reveals True Face of One Country, Two Systems

♦ Taiwan President Issues Statement Regarding HK Protest

【More Voices on the Ground】

♦ Taiwanese Returnees from Embattled Hong Kong University: ‘I am Fine, but Hong Kong is anything but’

♦ 'I’m from China, and I’m Against the China Extradition Bill'

♦ “Why Should We Hide Our Faces?” HK’s Voices on the Ground

♦ Opinion: Today’s Hong Kong, Tomorrow’s Taiwan?

Translated by Jack C.

Edited by Sharon Tseng