They will be responsible for selecting 110 of the 300 seats reserved for the sector after the committee was expanded to 1,500 seats. The other 190 will be appointees drawn from the National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee.

The subsector is open only to members of national organisations, previously little-known bodies such as the All-China Women’s Federation, All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and the All-China Youth Federation.

The same expansion that granted the pro-Beijing groups their place at the table also saw the elimination of all 117 seats once held by district councillors, among the few committee members directly elected by local voters.

Once composed of just four sectors – representing the city’s business, social, professional and political interests – the introduction of the patriotic sector and its 110-seat national organisation subsector has helped give Beijing an unshakeable grip on the newly empowered committee.

Election Committee nominations kick off, but sources say many seats will go uncontested

Members of the committee, previously just tasked with selecting the city’s chief executive, are now entitled both to nominate lawmakers and field their own Legislative Council hopefuls in the coming December polls.

A cross-check of publicly available records showed that Doo, the table tennis player, was one of the 1,375 committee members of the All-China Youth Federation. The umbrella body, established in 1949, represents numerous groups, including the Communist Youth League of China.

The 24-year-old, who recently took to social media to express her excitement over the anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty, has not shied away from voicing her political views.

Last year, she said she hoped to use her role as an athlete to make more young people “get back on track” through sports following what she called the “heartbreaking” protest movement in 2019.

Asked on Friday about her reasons for signing up as a voter in the subsector, Doo told the Post: “l haven’t really been thinking about those things at this moment.”

Other voters from the same Beijing-friendly youth group include Sun Hung Kai’s Kwok, who represented the real estate and construction subsector on the committee in 2016; the Development Bureau’s Fung; and Chris Ip Ngo-tung, deputy secretary of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.

“It’s our personal choice whether to join the national organisation and sign up as a voter to make contributions to the country. There was no so-called ‘coordination’,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Airport Authority’s Lam, meanwhile, confirmed he was serving as a voter in the sector “in his personal capacity”, but declined to disclose the organisations with which Lam was affiliated.

Shun Tak’s Ho was believed to have signed up via her membership in the All-China Women’s Federation. She has been outspoken in defending the city government, once describing the 2019 protests as a result of “systematic and calculated violent acts” led by radicals at a United Nations Human Rights Council meeting.

Sa Sa’s Kwok, a committee member in the wholesale and retail subsector in 2016, is one of about 300 Hong Kong council members of the China Overseas Friendship Association. A spokeswoman for the group, which focuses on beauty product retailing, said Kwok would not comment on politics.

Most of the voters approached by the Post were reluctant to comment or disclose their links to the national groups, information not available on the city’s voter register.

Film director Clifton Ko Chi-sum, known for his Beijing-friendly stance, was one of the few to discuss his role as a voter with the Post. Already having served as a committee member, Ko said he hoped to retain his seat in the revamped body to select a leader who was “strong in governance”.

“There have been too many problems that need to be addressed properly … like the issue of the border opening with mainland China, the lengthy delay is just unacceptable,” said Ko, adding it was “too early” to comment on who he would support for chief executive.

Another show business personality on the list is actor Jacky Heung, whose Taiwan residency permit was rejected in February due to alleged violations of the island’s national security law and his links with mainland Chinese government organisations.

Veteran China analyst Johnny Lau Yui-siu said the patriotic sector line-up reflected Beijing’s desire to improve the image of the pro-establishment camp with relatively “new faces” who were less active in the political circle.

“It’s not just about elections,” he said. “Some figures’ good reputation and professional image will also help those lesser-known national organisations they’re affiliated with gain exposure and acceptance among Hongkongers in the long run.”

But he said the desired results could not be easily achieved unless the regime became more open to dissenting views.

Additional reporting by Jeffie Lam