Hong Kong elections: already dominant pro-establishment camp secures near clean sweep in first ‘patriots-only’ Legislative Council poll

Traditional Beijing-friendly parties make big gains in Sunday’s race to consolidate their influence in the legislature while some high-profile hopefuls lose out

Election also produces a new and rising force comprising politicians and businessmen with links to mainland China

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Newly elected lawmakers celebrate their win at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on Monday. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 11:29pm, 20 Dec 2021Updated: 12:01pm, 24 Dec 2021

Hong Kong’s already dominant pro-establishment camp swept all but one seat in the first Legislative Council election after Beijing’s “patriots-only” overhaul of the political system amid a record low turnout of only 30.2 per cent.

While traditional Beijing-friendly parties made big gains in Sunday’s race to consolidate their influence in the legislature, the election also produced a new and rising force comprising politicians and businessmen with mainland Chinese links.

As the final results trickled in early on Monday, Beijing released a white paper defending the new electoral model as a strategy for developing “democracy with Hong Kong characteristics” – a gesture which the city’s leader hailed as providing “a strong rebuttal” ahead of attacks by foreign powers over Sunday’s poll.

Businessman Allan Zeman failed to win a seat in the Election Committee constituency. Photo: Edmond So

That criticism came in later in the day via a joint statement by the foreign ministers of the Five Eyes countries – the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand – expressing their “grave concern” over the erosion of democratic elements in Hong Kong. They said the electoral changes had eliminated the opposition and reversed the trend of growing political diversity.

In response, a spokesman of the Chinese foreign ministry’s Hong Kong office said foreign forces would “only humiliate themselves as they smeared the Legislative Council election”.

The new electoral system, he added, had returned Legco to its “original intention of selecting talents to do things for the people” and reducing “unnecessary, politicised disputes and internal conflicts.

The spokesman added that the poll had introduced “a new era of high-quality democracy” and had the popular backing of residents.