Hong Kong election result a ‘wake-up call’ for China but will it listen?
- Beijing and its supporters in the city need to carefully review their approach, say analysts as official response remains muted
- State media does not report pro-establishment side’s heavy losses, saying only that elections have taken place
Mainland China on Monday tried to brush aside the landslide defeat for the pro-establishment camp in Hong Kong’s district council elections, but scholars and analysts have called on Beijing to review the election setbacks and adjust its strategy for the city.
China’s official media carried only brief reports of the vote – which saw the pro-democracy camp taking control of 17 out of 18 councils – without mentioning the results, but mainland analysts said the failure by pro-establishment candidates in the election should serve as a wake-up call to Beijing’s leaders.
Song Sio-chong, professor of Shenzhen University’s Centre for Basic Laws of Hong Kong and Macau, said Beijing was puzzled by the strong support for pro-democracy candidates.
“It appears that voters in Hong Kong cared less about the economy and livelihood issues and wanted to vent their anger at the government,” Song said. “If this is true, then the future governance of Hong Kong could become difficult and there is not much that Beijing can do.”
But Song was not convinced the result would have a major impact on next year’s Legislative Council elections or the selection of future chief executives.
“Past Legco elections showed that the split between pro-Beijing and pro-democracy camps was usually about 40-60, and that was consistent with [Sunday’s results],” Song said.