{"document_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Hong_Kong_legislative_election"}
7th legislative election in Hong Kong
The 2021 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was a general election held on 19 December 2021 for the 7th Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Under the drastic Beijing-imposed electoral overhaul, the total number of seats was increased from 70 to 90 seats, with the directly elected geographical constituencies (GCs) reduced from 35 to 20 seats, the trade-based indirectly elected functional constituencies (FCs) staying at 30, and the additional 40 seats being elected by the 1,500-member Election Committee.

Originally scheduled on 6 September 2020, Chief Executive Carrie Lam unprecedentedly postponed the election citing the COVID-19 pandemic. That abruptly halted the momentum of the pro-democrats who campaigned for a "35+" majority, building from the historic 2019 anti-government protests and the pro-democracy landslide in the November District Council election. Subsequently, the government began to purge the opposition with the installation of the Hong Kong national security law. By mid 2021, almost all leading pro-democracy legislators and activists had either been arrested, imprisoned or forced to exile, with several major pro-democracy organisations, trade unions and media outlets disbanded under pressure.

Despite efforts by the government to boost voter turnout by offering free transport and establishing polling stations at the Chinese border, the election had the lowest turnout of any Legislative Council election in history. The number of blank or invalid votes also set a record high. These issues were blamed on a lack of interest in the election amongst pro-democracy Hongkongers.

Background

Election postponement

Originally scheduled on 6 September 2020, the recent resurgence of the COVID-19 cases in July sparked the speculation of a possible delay in the election. Tam Yiu-chung, the sole representative from Hong Kong on National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), suggested that the government should not rule out postponing the upcoming election, denying any criticism that the pro-Beijing camp was afraid of losing the election.

On 31 July, the last day of the nomination period, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the invocation of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, which gave her to the emergency powers to postpone the election. On 11 August the NPCSC unanimously passed a decision to extend the term of the incumbent 6th Legislative Council for no less than one year.

The delay was seen as a blow to the pro-democrats who aimed to achieve a "35+" majority by riding the 2019 District Council landslide on a wave of massive anti-government protests and concerns about the new national security law enacted by Beijing on Hong Kong. It was also seen as the latest in a quick series of aggressive moves by the Beijing authorities to thwart their momentum and sideline the pro-democracy movement. The pro-democrats accused Lam of using the pandemic as a pretext to stop people from voting and warned that doing so would "trigger a constitutional crisis in the city."

Crackdown on opposition

On 30 June 2020, the National People's Committee Standing Committee (NPCSC) enacted the national security law to outlaw "separatism, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference" in Hong Kong, targeting the recent widespread protests and the pro-democracy movement. On 10 August 2020, the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force raided the offices of Next Digital, the parent company of prominent pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. Next Digital founder and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai was arrested and later charged with violating the national security law.

In November, the NPCSC ruled in a decision that bars Legislative Council members from supporting Hong Kong independence, refusing to recognise Beijing's sovereignty over Hong Kong, seeking help from "foreign countries or foreign forces to interfere in the affairs of the region" or committing "other acts that endanger national security". As a result, the four sitting legislators, Alvin Yeung, Kwok Ka-ki, Dennis Kwok and Kenneth Leung whose candidacies were invalidated by the Returning Officers in the later-postponed September election, were ousted from the legislature with immediate effect. After the disqualification, the 15 remaining pro-democracy legislators announced their resignation in protest of the decision. Adding to the previous disqualifications and resignations, the total number of vacancies jumped to 27 with virtually no opposition in the Legislative Council as a result.

In January 2021, 53 pro-democracy activists, former opposition legislators, social workers and academics were arrested by the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force under the national security law for holding and running in the primaries for the originally scheduled Legislative Council general election. Secretary for Security John Lee accused the opposition activists of "subverting state power" for holding the primaries and said that they were suspected of "conspiring to obtain 35 or more seats at the Legislative Council (LegCo) with a view to … forcing the resignation of the Chief Executive, as well as bringing the HKSAR Government to a complete standstill, … to paralyse the Government and seriously interfere in, disrupt and undermine the performance of government duties and functions".

On 27 January, CCP general secretary Xi Jinping said that Hong Kong could only maintain its long-term stability and security by ensuring "patriots governing Hong Kong" when he heard a work report delivered by Carrie Lam. On 1 March, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Xia Baolong in the seminar of "patriots governing Hong Kong" stated that Hong Kong must establish a "democratic electoral system with Hong Kong characteristics."

On 20 May, former legislator Eddie Chu, who was detained under the national security law, dissolved his Team Chu Hoi-dick of New Territories West. On 26 June, the Neo Democrats, affiliated with detained former legislator Gary Fan, announced its disbandment, citing the political environment after the implementation of the national security law. On 24 June, Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was forced to shut down after the police detained the chief editor and five other executives and froze the company-linked assets on the basis of the paper having breached the city's new national security law. About a month later, the 95,000-member Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU), the largest single trades union in the city, announced on 10 August 2021 that it would disband after more than a week-long attacks from the Chinese state media describing the union as a "poisonous tumour" that must be "eradicated". On 15 August, the protest coalition Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), which had organised some of the biggest pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong's history, decided to disband, citing the oppression its member groups were facing and also the "unprecedented challenges" the civil society was having. It was followed by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China (HKASPDMC) in September after its HK$2.2 million assets was frozen and the group was charged with inciting subversion and being "an agent of foreign forces "under the national security law. The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), Hong Kong's largest independent trade union, was also disbanded in October after pro-Beijing media suggested the union was a "foreign agent" or "colluding with foreign forces" due to its affiliation with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Civic Passion, Community Sha Tin, Community March, Cheung Sha Wan Community Establishment Power, Tsz Wan Shan Constructive Power, and the Tuen Mun Community Network were also forced to disband among other political groups.

In May 2021, the Hong Kong government passed the Public Offices (Candidacy and Taking Up Offices)(Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2021, which extended the oath of allegiance requirements to District Councillors among other public offices. Amid the reports suggesting the councillors would be asked to return their accrued salaries if their oaths were deemed invalid, 278 pro-democrat councillors resigned before they were requested to take the oath. As a result, 49 pro-democrat councillors' oaths were ruled invalid and the councillors were ousted, leaving more than 70 per cent of the seats in the 18 District Councils vacant and effectively negating the pro-democracy victory in the 2019 election.

Electoral overhaul
On 11 March 2021, the National People's Congress (NPC) passed a decision to rewrite the election rules in Hong Kong to impose a more restrictive electoral system, claiming it was to ensure a system of "patriots governing Hong Kong." The new electoral system was further amended by a 30 March decision by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), which amended both the Annex I and Annex II of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, specifying the electoral methods for the Chief Executive (CE) and the Legislative Council respectively.

Under the new system, the number of Legislative Council seats would be increased to 90 from 70, but the number of directly elected geographical constituency seats would be lowered to 20 from 35, while the trade-based indirectly elected functional constituency seats would remain at 30, and the Beijing-controlled 1,500-seat Election Committee would elect 40 seats to the Legislative Council. The five District Council (Second) "super seats" introduced in the 2010 electoral reform package and elected by all registered voters would be eliminated.

For the functional constituencies, the District Council (First), which would have been held by the pro-democrats due to the 2019 District Council landslide, were eliminated, while another pro-democracy stronghold Health Services was merged with the Medical and Information Technology. Three new constituencies were created, namely the Commercial (Third), the Technology and Innovation, and the HKSAR deputies to the National People's Congress, HKSAR members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and representatives of relevant national organisations.

The remaining 20 directly elected seats were divided into 10 geographical constituencies, in which two members will be elected per constituency, making it a single non-transferable vote (SNTV) system. Each candidate must receive nominations of at least two but no more than four members from each sector of the Election Committee. A Candidate Eligibility Review Committee was set up to review and confirm the eligibility of candidates with the consultation of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security and the review of the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force. The decision of the Review Committee shall not be challenged legally.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the further postponement of the Legislative Council election from the originally scheduled September to December, swapping with the planned Election Committee subsector elections, as the reintroduction of the Election Committee seats to the Legislative Council meant that the new Election Committee had to be elected prior to the Legislative Council election. Meanwhile, the next Chief Executive election will be held in March 2022 as originally scheduled. Following the Election Committee Subsector elections, all but one member of the EC was affiliated with the pro-Beijing camp, meaning that in the likely scenario all 40 EC constituency elected members are pro-Beijing, the camp only needs 6 more seats out of the 50 remaining for a legislative majority.

In April, the Hong Kong government unveiled the Improving Electoral System (Consolidated Amendments) Bill 2021, which included a draft of changes to the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance that would "regulate acts that manipulate or undermine elections", criminalising anyone who incites the others not to vote or cast blank or spoiled ballots (including as a form of protest). Violators could face up to three years in prison.

Pro-democrats' boycott

Local parties

The pro-democrats suffered a significant blow after mass arrests, resignations, disqualifications and exodus in light of the national security law. Many in the camp believed the space for them to participate in the overhauled political landscape had been extinguished. The League of Social Democrats (LSD) announced on 1 June 2021 that it would boycott the election after leader Raphael Wong accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of "intending to wipe out dissidents", which came following the arrests of both its vice-chairmen Leung Kwok-hung and Jimmy Sham under the national security law and the conviction of secretary Avery Ng over an unauthorised assembly.

The two other moderate pro-democratic parties, the Democratic Party and the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL), were relatively open to running in the election. The Democratic Party was split with former legislator Fred Li voicing support for participating in the election, while the majority advocated for not fielding candidates. Pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) veteran Lo Man-tuen had warned the Democrats not to boycott the election, suggesting that it might breach the national security law. In September, the party decided to set up a mechanism to assess members wishing to run. However after the nomination period ended on 11 October 2021, no Democrat had signed up for running after Han Dongfang, the only member revealing an intention to contest a seat, failed to get enough nominations. It became clear that the chance for the Democrats to run in the election again had been denied when former legislators James To and Roy Kwong along with some other members who had expressed their interest to run were all unseated from the District Councils after their oaths were deemed invalid by the government, which banned them from standing in elections within the next five years.

On 15 October, the ADPL convened a general meeting that approved members to run in the election. However, none of its members signed up in the one week nomination period, despite former legislator Bruce Liu having said he was interested in running again.

Overseas calls

Former Democratic legislator Ted Hui, who fled Hong Kong after being charged with at least nine counts related to the 2019 protests, urged pro-democracy supporters to cast protest votes in the election, in order to achieve the highest number of blank votes in the history of Hong Kong elections, and for blank votes to exceed the number of valid votes. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) issued a warning against Hui, stating that inciting others to cast blank votes violated the newly passed election laws. Secretary for Security Chris Tang slammed Hui's remarks as "despicably inciting people to break the law". He also warned that "these illegal behaviours, disrupting the election, may also violate relevant provisions in the 'Hong Kong national security law'."

The ICAC arrested three local netizens on 9 November for urging voters to cast blank votes in the election. On 29 November, the court issued warrants for Hui and former District Councillor Yau Man-chun, who made Facebook posts asking people to boycott the "fake election" after resettling in the UK. On 9 November, ICAC arrested three more people for reposting an online post that inciting others to cast blank votes. Four more persons, including former president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Student Union Jacky So Tsun-fung, were arrested on 15 December for reposting Hui's online posts that called on voters. On 16 December, two more people were arrested for the same charge, bringing the total number of arrestees to 10. Two more people were arrested on 17 December, being accused of urging people to join unauthorised assemblies and of calling on people to adopt various means to influence the elections by committing arson and attacking or killing police officers and government officials.

In an editorial of Wall Street Journal published on 29 November, "Hong Kong Says Vote – or Else", the journal said that "China’s Communist Party wants the world to forget how it crushed the autonomy it promised to the territory" and "boycotts and blank ballots are one of the last ways for Hong Kongers to express their political views". In return, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang issued a letter warning the journal about inciting others to cast invalid vote, "irrespective whether the incitement is made in Hong Kong or abroad" and "reserve the right to take necessary action". On 8 December, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London issued a letter to The Sunday Times, criticising its editorial article "China shows its true colours – and they’re not pretty" on 5 December contains "factual inaccuracies" and warning it that its call for a boycott "to the point where a low turnout would be an embarrassment for the authorities" could violate the election law in Hong Kong, "whether the incitement is made in Hong Kong or abroad".

Former legislator and exiled democracy activist Nathan Law called on the voters to ignore the election this month, saying they should not lend it any legitimacy. Secretary for Security Chris Tang called a Law a "coward" and "traitor" and a "runaway anti-China and anti-Hong Kong element", slamming him for his planned presence at U.S. President Joe Biden's upcoming Summit for Democracy on 10 December. Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong Liu Guangyuan slammed the U.S. for using democracy as a pretext to stir up trouble in Hong Kong, saying that "any foreign forces using whatever means or cover as an attempt to interfere with Hong Kong’s Legislative Council election will definitely face fightback from the Chinese government."

Just one day before the election, the ICAC issued warrants against five exiled activists, including Law and Sunny Cheung, who allegedly engaged in illegal conduct by encouraging others not to vote in the LegCo election.

Contesting parties and candidates

Pro-Beijing camp

The pro-Beijing camp was poised to win comfortably after the overhaul in the electoral system. Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong reportedly traveled to Shenzhen in late October 2021 to orchestrate and coordinate candidate lists for the pro-Beijing camp. The South China Morning Post reported that Beijing had been working behind the scenes to ensure every constituency would be contested. Some veteran incumbents who were previously re-elected uncontestedly were told to "find someone" to run against this time.

A dozen executives at state-owned companies contested the election. Chairman and executive director of Bocom International Tan Yueheng who fielded his candidacy for the Election Committee constituency did not disclose his political affiliation, although it is shown on the China Merchants Bank and other websites that he is a member of the Chinese Communist Party. Simon Hoey Lee, who also ran in the Election Committee constituency, is the chief strategy officer of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area at the China Resources Group. Yau Wai-kwong, candidate for the newly established Commercial (Third) functional constituency, is the director and general manager of China Overseas Property. Yau ran against Erik Yim, general manager of the China Merchants Port, while deputy general manager of the China Travel Service Yiu Pak-leung ran in the Tourism functional constituency.

Independent democrats

Four independents from a pro-democracy background secured enough nominations from the Election Committee members to run in the election. Former pro-democracy legislator and incumbent Wong Tai Sin District Councillor Mandy Tam and Islands District Councillor Fong Lung-fei were the first two to stand. Tam received one nomination came from Hong Kong deputy to the NPC Maggie Chan and former chairman of the Federation of Public Housing Estates Wong Kwan. Fong secured a nomination from Reverend Peter Koon of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui and All-China Youth Federation committee member Sharon Tam. Sai Kung District Council vice chairman Daryl Choi became the third pro-democracy candidate to have secured sufficient nominations to run in the election when he stood in New Territories South East. The fourth pro-democrat, Tsuen Wan District Councillor Lau Cheuk-yu entered the election when he secured enough nominations to stand in New Territories South West.

Others

Some former pro-democrats also decided to run, including former legislator Frederick Fung who left the ADPL to run against Lee Cheuk-yan who was commonly supported by the camp in the November 2018 Kowloon West by-election, and Wong Sing-chi who was expelled from the Democratic Party over his support for the 2015 Beijing-decreed political reform proposal.

Retiring incumbents

Opinion polling
The Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI), formerly the Public Opinion Programme under the University of Hong Kong (HKU) headed by Robert Chung would not conduct tracking polls on the election for the first time since the 1995 Legislative Council election, citing budget constraints and the absence of media outlets' partnership, but would conduct three rounds of public opinion polls tracking people's intention to vote with the option of "blank vote". The Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation led by pro-Beijing lawyers accused PORI of "having ulterior motives and openly challenging the national security law and election laws" by conducting citywide surveys that could "incite" voters to cast invalid ballots. Pro-Beijing mouthpiece Ta Kung Pao also attacked PORI for allegedly inciting voters to case blank votes or not to vote in the following days. ICAC Commissioner Simon Peh said he could not rule out that PORI had broken the law.

In a poll conducted by pro-Beijing Hong Kong Research Association from 12 to 16 November, about 54 per cent of the 1,067 respondents said they would cast their ballots, with 28 per cent indicating otherwise, while 15 per cent were undecided. In the first round of PORI survey from 15 to 18 November, about 52 per cent of the 838 respondents said they would cast their ballots, a sharp decline from the 83 per cent respondents said they would cast their ballots in the 2016 election, the lowest record since the first Legislative Council direct election in 1991.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam dismissed concerns over possible low turnout in an interview with the Chinese Communist Party-owned tabloid Global Times on 7 December, defending that "there is a saying that when the government is doing well and its credibility is high, the voter turnout will decrease because the people do not have a strong demand to choose different lawmakers to supervise the government."

Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper People's Daily on 9 December accused the PORI of aligning with forces that are "anti China and disrupting Hong Kong" by insinuating that the public's desire to vote in the election is low and using "so-called public opinion to hijack the society" in order to undermine the election's authority and credibility. The article added that "it is time to clean it up and ring funeral bells for it."

Voting intention

Voting arrangements

Border polling stations

Due to the travel restriction between mainland China and Hong Kong since the COVID-19 outbreak, the government decided to set up three polling stations on the Hong Kong–Shenzhen boundary control points, namely Heung Yuen Wai, Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line, to allow up to 110,000 Hong Kong eligible voters to cross the border just to cast their ballot. The public and media would also not be allowed to observe vote counting at the stations. Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang dismissed the doubt that the arrangement might not comply with the election law which states that only those who "ordinarily resides in Hong Kong" are eligible to vote, claiming that a number of other factors should also be considered. He also ensured the government would be able to enforce anti-corruption law if there were illegal practices occurring in the mainland. Political scientist and pundit Ivan Choy said the proposal was a way to boost the turnout but doubted its effectiveness as it would be "quite demanding" for electors to take hours-long trips from their home provinces and cities to cast a ballot at the border checkpoints.

Free transportation on election day

Hoping to boost the turnout, the government on 10 December announced free bus services provided by KMB, Citybus, New World First Bus, Long Win Bus, and New Lantao Bus and free train services including MTR, light rail and tram on the election day. Citizens, in turn, seized the chance to travel around the city, with long queues around the city waiting for transportation and crowded scenes in tourist spots, in a stark comparison with polling stations that were without build up of people.

Results

As expected, most seats were won by the pro-Beijing camp, with only one non-establishment candidate being elected (Tik Chi-yuen in the Social Welfare functional constituency). Turnout was 30.20%, the lowest in the history of legislative elections. Over 2% of ballots cast were blank or invalid.
Votes summary

Votes, of total, by camp

Pro-Beijing (93.15%)
Non-establishment (6.85%)

Seats, of total, by camp

Pro-Beijing (98.89%)
Non-establishment (1.11%)

Seats summary

Incumbents defeated

Two incumbents lost re-election.

Results breakdown

Election Committee constituency (40 seats)

Voting method: Block vote system, each EC member must select 40 candidates. The 40 candidates who obtain the greatest number of votes will be elected.

Source:

Functional constituencies (30 seats)

Voting method: First-past-the-post system, except the Labour constituency using plurality-at-large voting system.

Source:

Geographical constituencies (20 seats)

Voting method: Double seats and single vote system, each constituency returns two members, and each voter can vote for one candidate. The two candidates who obtain the greatest number of votes will be elected.

Source:

Criticism

Domestic

The election was criticised for lack of energy on display, described by the South China Morning Post as "No banners, no noises" on its headline, drawing a big contrast to the months of vigorous street campaigns in the previous elections.

Political scientist and pundit Ivan Choy criticised the election as "an election with Chinese characteristics" and "rigged", as the election results had already been predetermined before the polls. He pointed out that the Beijing government had tight control over the nomination process through the Election Committee, in which the "nominating" became the deciding factor of the election rather than "voting", getting more and more similar to the Chinese electoral system. Choy also observed that the appearance of the competitiveness of which no constituency was left uncontested was a deliberate outcome of Beijing's coordination, in which the other candidate would not win but merely act as window dressing. The unusual practices of the pro-Beijing parties being discreet about their election plans and late in launching their unenergised campaigns had also shown that Beijing had taken full control of coordinating candidates from the parties who would face little to no challenge in the general election.

International

A joint statement from representatives of each Five Eyes nation (the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom and the US Secretary of State) noted "grave concern over the erosion of democratic elements of the Special Administrative Region’s electoral system" and went on to note the lack of real political opposition and shrinking civil liberties. A joint statement from the Group of Seven nations likewise noted "grave concern" about Hong Kong's elections. In response, the Chinese Government claimed the Hong Kong elections were fair and criticised the Five Eyes for interfering in Hong Kong's affairs.

The European Union described the changes made to Hong Kong's electoral system as a "violation of democratic principles and political pluralism" and called on Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to honor "the commitment to democratic representation through universal suffrage."

A Bloomberg editorial slammed the election as "stage-managed" in which the Chinese authoritarian regime sought to confer legitimacy by proclaiming a democratic mandate. It pointed out that the election was a mechanism for co-opting new pro-Beijing interest groups into the power structure, and on the other hand diluting the influence of traditional elites perceived as insufficiently loyal during the protests. It also compared Hong Kong's elections to the one-party rules in Vietnam and Laos rather than a controlled democracy such as Singapore where a sizable contingent opposition was allowed.

Aftermath

Hours after the announcement of election result, the Chinese Government unveiled a white paper, claiming Hong Kong was now entering a new stage of "restored order" as a result of these Beijing-introduced changes. The white paper is the second of its kind to be released by Beijing on Hong Kong's political reforms.

As none of the non-establishment candidates entered the Legislative Council through directly-elected constituencies, analysts believed both the pro-democracy camp and the "centrist" (or moderate) faction are no longer represented in Hong Kong institutions.

Felix Chung from the conservative Liberal Party is expected to leave his post as the party leader after his defeat in re-election, as both the chairperson and leader of the party must be members of the Legislative Council per customs. Yeung Yuk, who supported Frederick Fung in the campaign and angered some pro-democracy activists, resigned as the acting chairperson of the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, citing his wish to focus on local issues. Edith Leung and So Yat-hung, who both supported Jason Poon in the campaign, led to complaints from the Democratic Party members, got their party membership frozen in January, and removed from the party in February 2022.