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| Hong Kong voters flock to polls after protests and government climbdowns | Hong Kong voters flock to polls after protests and government climbdowns |
| (8 days later) | |
| Hong Kong voters have gone to the polls in greater numbers than ever, after days of political drama in which students on hunger strike forced the government to drop an unpopular education policy extolling the merits of mainland China. | Hong Kong voters have gone to the polls in greater numbers than ever, after days of political drama in which students on hunger strike forced the government to drop an unpopular education policy extolling the merits of mainland China. |
| The elections are for 70 seats in the legislative council, under rules that ensure a pro-government majority. The former British colony, under mainland Chinese sovereignty since 1997, is guaranteed freedom of speech and assembly but can only vote directly for just over half the seats available in the council. | The elections are for 70 seats in the legislative council, under rules that ensure a pro-government majority. The former British colony, under mainland Chinese sovereignty since 1997, is guaranteed freedom of speech and assembly but can only vote directly for just over half the seats available in the council. |
| Three issues topped voters' concerns: the rising cost of buying a home, resentment towards mainland Chinese arrivals in the city, and a policy known as national education. | Three issues topped voters' concerns: the rising cost of buying a home, resentment towards mainland Chinese arrivals in the city, and a policy known as national education. |
| This last brought tens of thousands of people, led by the school activist group Scholarism, to the government headquarters each night for the last two weeks. Posters read "Love is learned", with the first letter of learned crossed out. Drawings of a brain held in two hands were labelled: "Do not wash – handle with care." | This last brought tens of thousands of people, led by the school activist group Scholarism, to the government headquarters each night for the last two weeks. Posters read "Love is learned", with the first letter of learned crossed out. Drawings of a brain held in two hands were labelled: "Do not wash – handle with care." |
| "From the moral or ethical perspective this programme does not do any good for Hong Kong society and I cannot see any economical benefits other than pleasing the Chinese government," said Taylor Li, a 21-year-old university law student who was one of a small number of people on hunger strike. | "From the moral or ethical perspective this programme does not do any good for Hong Kong society and I cannot see any economical benefits other than pleasing the Chinese government," said Taylor Li, a 21-year-old university law student who was one of a small number of people on hunger strike. |
| He criticised the planned course for "only praising China's spacecraft, its high-speed railway, its Olympics". The syllabus makes no mention of 4 June 1989, when Chinese tanks moved on student protests in Tiananmen Square. | He criticised the planned course for "only praising China's spacecraft, its high-speed railway, its Olympics". The syllabus makes no mention of 4 June 1989, when Chinese tanks moved on student protests in Tiananmen Square. |
| Agnes Chow, 15, said she knew better than to love China blindly. "When I look at the curriculum document, I think national education is really controlling the mind of children, so I joined Scholarism," she said. | Agnes Chow, 15, said she knew better than to love China blindly. "When I look at the curriculum document, I think national education is really controlling the mind of children, so I joined Scholarism," she said. |
| Hong Kong's chief executive, CY Leung, cancelled a planned visit to Vladivostok for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit, and on Thursday announced that two future apartment buildings would be reserved for Hong Kong rather than mainland buyers. Some believe mainland property speculation is to blame for high Hong Kong property prices. | Hong Kong's chief executive, CY Leung, cancelled a planned visit to Vladivostok for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit, and on Thursday announced that two future apartment buildings would be reserved for Hong Kong rather than mainland buyers. Some believe mainland property speculation is to blame for high Hong Kong property prices. |
| On Friday, Leung announced that a plan to allow more than four million mainlanders in neighbouring Shenzhen to apply for visas to visit Hong Kong would be indefinitely delayed. And after dark on Saturday he buckled on national education. | On Friday, Leung announced that a plan to allow more than four million mainlanders in neighbouring Shenzhen to apply for visas to visit Hong Kong would be indefinitely delayed. And after dark on Saturday he buckled on national education. |
| Analysts described it as the rise of identity politics: Hong Kong people were different from their mainland neighbours and wanted to stay that way. The slogan of one of the leading pro-democracy political parties, the Civic party, was "Say no to a red Hong Kong". | Analysts described it as the rise of identity politics: Hong Kong people were different from their mainland neighbours and wanted to stay that way. The slogan of one of the leading pro-democracy political parties, the Civic party, was "Say no to a red Hong Kong". |
| With the older Democratic party, the Labour party and the more radical People Power, Civic's main goal is universal suffrage in Hong Kong. Their better financed opponents – and the natural allies of Beijing – are the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) and the Federation of Trade Unions. | With the older Democratic party, the Labour party and the more radical People Power, Civic's main goal is universal suffrage in Hong Kong. Their better financed opponents – and the natural allies of Beijing – are the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) and the Federation of Trade Unions. |
| If Leung was hoping his last-minute climbdowns would spur support for the pro-China bloc, he could be disappointed. "They want to develop the sense of us to become really Chinese. But the more they want to enforce this subject, the more we want to pull back and not to follow what they want," said Chris Yung as she left a polling booth. | If Leung was hoping his last-minute climbdowns would spur support for the pro-China bloc, he could be disappointed. "They want to develop the sense of us to become really Chinese. But the more they want to enforce this subject, the more we want to pull back and not to follow what they want," said Chris Yung as she left a polling booth. |
| The balance of power in the new legislature depends on highly complex vote-counting rules. The stakes are high: incoming representatives have the task of agreeing to or rejecting Beijing's need to act on its promise of further democratisation in the next five years. | The balance of power in the new legislature depends on highly complex vote-counting rules. The stakes are high: incoming representatives have the task of agreeing to or rejecting Beijing's need to act on its promise of further democratisation in the next five years. |
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