From Olympians to tycoons and filmmakers, who are the ‘patriotic sector’ voters of Hong Kong’s powerful Election Committee?

The group, all members of pro-Beijing ‘national organisations’, is tasked with choosing who will fill the committee’s newly created fifth sector – and they can run for slots themselves

But the selection of relatively ‘new faces’ has value that goes beyond the coming December election, analyst says

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Hong Kong’s Doo Hoi-kem, a bronze medallist in table tennis, is among those set to vote for members in the Election Committee’s new ‘patriotic sector’. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:30am, 7 Aug 2021Updated: 2:06pm, 8 Sep 2021

An Olympic medallist, a Hong Kong political appointee and a handful of billionaires are among the unexpected faces set to determine the make-up of the new “patriotic sector” of the Election Committee, the body tasked with choosing the city’s next leader and acting as a gatekeeper for would-be lawmakers.

The line-up of voters for the subsector – each of whom are members of “national organisations” – has taken some by surprise, upending the prevailing assumption it would be filled entirely with conventional pro-Beijing politicians.

Among the registered voters – who can also run for committee slots themselves – are: Doo Hoi-kem, of Hong Kong’s bronze medal-winning women’s table tennis team; Allen Fung Ying-lun, political assistant to the secretary for development; Airport Authority CEO Fred Lam Tin-fuk; and Betty Yuen So Siu-mai, vice chairwoman of electricity provider CLP Power.

Tycoons on the list include Sun Hung Kai Properties executive director Adam Kwok Kai-fai, Kerry Logistics chairman Kuok Khoon Hua, Sa Sa International chairman Simon Kwok Siu-ming, and Shun Tak Holdings chairwoman Pansy Ho Chiu-king, heiress to the fortune of late Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun.

According to a Post examination of the electoral rolls, they are among the 450 residents who have successfully registered as voters for the patriotic subsector, created in the sweeping March overhaul of the city’s electoral system.