No new voters? No problem: Beijing ‘unlikely to blame’ Hong Kong’s pro-establishment camp for lack of interest in coming poll

Politicians acknowledge the flatlining number of registered voters hints at disillusionment with the city’s elections

But Beijing is more concerned with the turnout and results of the coming Legislative Council poll, one analyst says

Reading Time:4 minutes

Analysts say Beijing will not blame the city’s pro-establishment camp for recent dismal voter registration figures. Photo: May Tse

Published: 8:00am, 5 Oct 2021Updated: 12:30pm, 5 Oct 2021

Hong Kong’s flatlining number of registered voters is evidence of growing disillusionment with the city’s politics, but Beijing is unlikely to blame the pro-establishment camp for the trend, observers have said.

The number of registered voters in the city increased by just 419 in the past 12 months, compared with nearly 334,000 the previous year, while the number of electors aged 20 or younger actually fell by more than a fifth. But rather than focusing on the size of the electorate, the central government was more concerned about the turnout and results of the Legislative Council election on December 19, according to analyst Lau Siu-kai.

“After the improvements to the electoral system, Beijing made a realistic assessment of the new circumstances, and knows that a substantial portion of Hong Kong people cannot accept the changes made,” said Lau, vice-president of the semi-official think tank, the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies.

“So Beijing will not blame the pro-establishment camp. The central government did not highlight the need to boost participation. It’s more concerned about whether elections can help safeguard national security, improve governance and put Hong Kong’s democratic development on a new starting point.”

Beijing recently overhauled the city’s electoral system to ensure only ‘patriots’ held power. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Lau was referring to a series of drastic changes Beijing imposed on Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure only “patriots” held public office.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x