SCUFFLES AS H.K. VOTERS GO TO POLLS
Chinese nationalists taunt democrats who are trying to win back lost seats
HONG Kong’s bestknown young activists were heckled by Chinese nationalists in tense scenes yesterday as the city’s pro-democracy camp tries to claw back lost seats in controversial by-elections.
Yesterday’s vote once more exposed the city’s deep political divide and came as China took an increasingly tough line against any challenges to its sovereignty.
High-profile candidate Agnes Chow was barred from standing because her party promoted selfdetermination for the semi-autonomous city.
Soon after polls opened, several men and a woman heckled Chow, as well as leading prodemocracy activists Joshua Wong and Nathan Law, near a polling station where they were supporting pro-democracy candidate Au Nok-hin.
One of the men barged into Wong, who led mass demonstrations in 2014 calling for greater democratic freedoms.
“Traitors and running dogs!” a man repeatedly yelled while others hurled repeated obscenities.
Wong said threats to freedoms in the city “prove that it’s more necessary for us to vote”.
The by-election was triggered after Beijing forced the disqualification of six rebel lawmakers, who had swept to victory in citywide elections in 2016.
Some were former protest leaders, others advocated independence. All were ousted from their posts for inserting protests into their oaths of office.
Four of the six vacant seats were being contested yesterday.
“The election is not about selecting me, it is also about voting for justice,” said Au, who stepped in to contest the Hong Kong Island seat after Chow was disallowed.
The seat was originally held by Law, also a 2014 protest leader, who was among the six thrown out of office.
But pro-establishment politician Judy Chan, standing against Au, cast the opposition as provoking “violence and resistance”.
Many of the first to cast ballots at a polling station yesterday were elderly and pro-Beijing.
The pro-democracy camp has come under increasing pressure since the failure of the Umbrella Movement to win reform.
Political analyst Dixon Sing said losing any one of the four byelection seats would be a further blow.
But he added that even an across-the-board win would be countered by a system fundamentally weighted towards Beijing.