Hong Kong’s coming Legislative Council poll at higher risk for violence than Election Committee vote, security chief says

Secretary for Security Chris Tang cites the much larger number of voters and polling places in the December election
He also points to recent events such as the July stabbing of a police officer and what he describes as ‘activities by terrorist groups’

Hong Kong elections

Christy Leung

Published: 8:55pm, 25 Sep 2021

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Hong Kong’s security chief on Saturday warned that the coming Legislative Council poll was at higher risk for violence than the recent one for the powerful Election Committee.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung cited the much larger pool of voters, and also pointed to recent events such as the July stabbing of a police officer and what he described as “activities by terrorist groups” in predicting the December poll had a greater potential for mishaps.

Police deployed up to 6,000 officers for last Sunday’s election, with security personnel outnumbering the 4,900 voters eligible to take part in the poll – the city’s first under a system overhaul imposed by Beijing to ensure only “patriots” held power.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang. Photo: Nora Tam

But unlike the Election Committee vote, the Legco one will involve more than 600 polling places and some 4.5 million electors in the geographical constituencies.

“Maybe [holding] election campaigns will see risks. As you remember from the district council election back in November in 2019, many people were attacked by others who held different views. They therefore did not dare to go out to campaign,” Tang said on a radio programme on Saturday, vowing to step up intelligence gathering and arrange enough manpower to ensure a safe and orderly vote.

The same tactics, he said, would also be applied to National Day next Friday, when the city was expected to hold a number of celebratory events.

The district council elections were held in November 2019 at the height of that year’s social unrest, sparked months earlier by a controversial bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.

The politically charged atmosphere contributed to record voter turnout, with almost 2.94 million Hongkongers, or 72 per cent of the eligible electorate, casting ballots in the municipal-level poll.

The result was a landslide victory for the opposition, which won 392 out of 452 seats and took control of all but one of the city’s 18 district councils.

People queue to take part in the last Legislative Council election in 2016. Photo: David Wong

Some 260 of those opposition members have since quit amid rumours they would be forced to pay back their salaries and expenses if ousted under new oath-taking requirements imposed by the national security law.

Several more have already been unseated and others are facing inquiries into questions about their loyalty since authorities began administering the new oaths this month.

Sunday’s Election Committee poll, meanwhile, saw only 4,380 ballots cast, far fewer than in years past due to eligibility changes that slashed the number of voters by some 97 per cent.

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While the election went off without any major security issues, the full results were severely delayed, and were not released until nearly 14 hours after polls closed.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor apologised for the “serious” delay, and pledged to prevent a repeat of the problem in December’s Legco vote.

While Beijing’s overhaul increased the number of Legco seats from 70 to 90 seats, it slashed the number of ones directly elected by geographical constituencies from 35 to 20. Forty lawmakers in the new Legco will also be chosen by the Election Committee for the first time ever.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Legco vote regarded at ‘higher risk’ for violence