Vote turnout high

Hong Kong: Nearly 600,000

Hong Kong citizens cast ballots over the weekend in what the Chineseruled city’s opposition camp said was a symbolic protest vote against a tough national security law directly imposed by Beijing.

The unofficial poll will decide the strongest prodemocracy candidates to contest elections in September to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council.

They then aim to seize majority control for the first time from proBeijing rivals by riding a wave of antiChina sentiment stirred by the law, which critics say has gravely undermined Hong Kong’s freedoms. — Reuters