HK names candidates and rejects nine in polls

Amid a dispute over candidates excluded on political grounds, Hong Kong’s government posted the names of those approved to run in the territory’s most contentious Legislative Council elections since reverting to Chinese rule almost two decades ago.

Nine candidates have been rejected over their stance on the Chinese special administrative region’s political future in what critics say is an ill omen for the city’s democratic development.

Three would-be candidates have said they will appeal, although no ruling is expected before the Sept 4 elections.

The rejections yesterday are seen as a sign of China’s growing political interference in the financial hub, which enjoys its own legal system and far greater democratic freedoms than the Communist Partyrun mainland.

Yesterday’s notice says 289 candidates have been approved to run for the 70-seat body, half of which are elected from geographic districts and half from professional constituencies, such as engineering, tourism and the arts.

Twelve of those seats are being filled by candidates running uncontested.

Election officers had warned candidates they must pledge to uphold Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, including a section stating the city is an “inalienable” part of China, and excluded those who refused.

The rejected candidates who hail from Hong Kong’s marginal but growing independence movement said they refused because the demand amounted to political screening. — AP