![Carrie Lam see the press 20200731](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Carrie_Lam_see_the_press_20200731.png)
The 2020 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was originally scheduled on 6 September 2020 until it was postponed by the government. On 31 July 2020,
Chief Executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Carrie Lam
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the 4th Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022. She served as Chief Secretary for Administration between 2012 and 2017 and Secr ...
announced that she was invoking the
Emergency Regulations Ordinance
The Emergency Regulations Ordinance () is a law of Hong Kong that confers on the Chief Executive in Council the power to make regulations on occasions that the Chief Executive believes to be an emergency or public danger. It was first introduced ...
to postpone the election under the emergency powers granted to her by it, citing the
recent resurgence of the COVID-19 cases, adding that the move was supported by
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
Despite Lam's denial of any political calculation, the delay was seen by
pro-democrats
The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic L ...
as politically motivated, who aimed to achieve a "35+" majority (obtaining more than 35 out of the 70 seats in the
Legislative Council) by riding the
2019 District Council landslide on a wave of
massive protests against the government and concerns about the sweeping new
national security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong. It was also seen as the latest in a rapid series of aggressive moves by the Beijing authorities to thwart opposition momentum and neutralise the pro-democracy movement.
Just prior to the announcement,
12 opposition candidates were disqualified from running in the election and four ex-members of
pro-independence student group Studentlocalism aged 16 to 21 were arrested under the new national security law for making pro-independence posts on social media.
Background
Anti-extradition protests and District Council landslide
![2019 Hong Kong District Council Election Results (By camp)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/2019_Hong_Kong_District_Council_Election_Results_%28By_camp%29.svg)
In mid-2019, a push by the
Carrie Lam administration for an
amendment of the extradition law created an unprecedented political crisis in Hong Kong.
More than a million people marched against the bill in mid June, with
violent clashes between the police and the protesters occurring outside the
Central Government Complex
The Central Government Complex has been the headquarters of the Government of Hong Kong since 2011. Located at the Tamar site, the complex comprises the Central Government Offices, the Legislative Council Complex and the Office of the Chie ...
on 12 June.
The protests were maintained and escalated as Lam refused to fully withdraw the bill, resulting in strong anti-government sentiment that fed into the
November District Council election, where the
pro-Beijing parties suffered historic defeat, losing about two-thirds of their seats. The
pro-democrats
The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic L ...
jumped from around 124 to about 388 seats and took control of 17 of the 18
District Councils as a result.
The stunning results greatly boosted the morale of the pro-democrats who immediately saw the possibility of securing a first-ever majority in the Legislative Council in the 2020 election.
Benny Tai
Benny Tai Yiu-ting (; born 12 July 1964) is a Hong Kong legal scholar, political figure, and democracy activist. He was an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong.
From 2013, Tai launched and is known for his initiation of ...
, co-initiator of the
2014 Occupy protests, suggested that the pro-democrats could target winning more than half of the seats and use that advantage to block the government's bills, including expected legislation under
Article 23 of the Basic Law
Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 () is an article in the Basic Law, the constitution of Hong Kong. It states that Hong Kong "shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People's ...
, and to pressure the government to implement the
five key demands of the protest movement. He proposed
a primary within the pro-democracy camp, which was later held. He also initiated "ThunderGo plan 2.0", which mirrored his coordinating mechanism of "smart voters" in the
2016 election to strategic voting to increase the chance of the pro-democracy candidates.
National security legislation
In early 2020, the
Chinese national government in Beijing reorganised the personnel of its representative organs in Hong Kong by replacing the director of its
Liaison Office in Hong Kong,
Wang Zhimin
Wang Zhimin (; born 8 August 1957) is a Chinese politician, a member of the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and vice president of the Central Institute for Party History and Literature Research. He was the Director of the ...
, with former
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
Communist Party secretary
Luo Huining
Luo Huining (; born 5 October 1954) is a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party who is Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong. A native of Yiwu, Zhejiang, he was previously the Governor, then Party S ...
, while the
Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office
The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council is an administrative agency of the State Council of the People's Republic of China responsible for promoting cooperation and coordination of political, economic and cultural ties betwe ...
director
Zhang Xiaoming
Zhang Xiaoming (; born 3 September 1963) is a Chinese politician. He was the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong and then of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, before being demoted to deputy direc ...
ceded his position to former
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
Communist Party secretary
Xia Baolong
Xia Baolong (; born 2 December 1952) is a Chinese politician. Originally from Tianjin, Xia began his political career in the Communist Youth League. He served as the vice mayor of Tianjin, governor and Communist Party Secretary of Zhejiang provi ...
, with Luo and Zhang becoming his deputies. Political analysts speculated that one of the key tasks for Luo and Xia was to make sure that the pro-Beijing camp retained its majority in the legislature in the coming election.
The two Beijing agencies in Hong Kong were outspoken in urging the Hong Kong government to implement new
national security law.
In May 2020, the central government initiated a plan for implementing the national security law for Hong Kong which would criminalise "separatism, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference", which many interpreted as a crackdown on civil liberties, government critics, and the
independence movement
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
.
Pro-democracy camp and various national governments expressed concern that the Chinese plans would undermine Hong Kong autonomy and the "
One Country, Two Systems
"One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
The constitutional principle was formulated in the early ...
" principle.
Civic Party
The Civic Party (CP) is a pro-democracy liberal political party in Hong Kong. It is currently chaired by barrister Alan Leong.
The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Basic Law Article 45 Concern Group, which was derived from the B ...
leader
Alvin Yeung
Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu (, born 5 June 1981) is a barrister and politician in Hong Kong. He is the former Leader of the Civic Party and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing New Territories East after winning the 20 ...
said the details of the legislation show "Beijing's power is stabbing right into Hong Kong's judicial and administrative organs like a sword." He warned that "Hong Kong’s worst nightmare has been mapped out" and added that the lack of details on specific criminal actions was "extremely worrying." The
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China.
With 2, ...
approved the plans on 29 May 2020 and the
National People's Congress Standing Committee
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...
(NPCSC) subsequently convened for drafting the details of the law.
![DSCF8015 (50068366076)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/DSCF8015_%2850068366076%29.jpg)
In June,
Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs is the head of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau in Government of Hong Kong, which is responsible for promoting the Basic Law, constitutional affairs, electoral development, and c ...
Erick Tsang
Erick Tsang Kwok-wai (; born 1 September 1963) is a Hong Kong government official. Since 2020, he has been Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, one of the principal officials of Hong Kong. Prior to that, he was Director of Immig ...
suggested that anyone who opposed the coming national security law would be disqualified from September's Legislative Council elections. He said that it was everyone's duty to safeguard national security, and the imposition of security laws was "only natural". Alvin Yeung described Tsang's comments as a form of "illogical and irresponsible intimidation" of the potential opposition candidates. On 30 June, the NPCSC unanimously passed the national security law without fully disclosing the content of the law. Hours after the news, leading members of the
Demosistō
Demosisto (stylised Demosistō) () was a pro-democracy political organisation established on 10 April 2016 as a political party. It was led by Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow – former leaders of Scholarism, along with Nathan Law, former secreta ...
party,
Joshua Wong
Joshua Wong Chi-fung (; born 13 October 1996) is a Hong Kong activist and politician. He served as secretary-general of the pro-democracy party Demosistō until it disbanded following the implementation of the Hong Kong national security law ...
,
Nathan Law
Nathan Law Kwun-chung ( zh, link=no, t=羅冠聰; born 13 July 1993) is an activist and politician from Hong Kong. As a former student leader, he has been chairman of the Representative Council of the Lingnan University Students' Union (LUSU ...
,
Agnes Chow
Agnes Chow Ting ( zh, t=周庭, born 3 December 1996) is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. She is a former member of the Standing Committee of Demosistō and former spokesperson of Scholarism. Her candidacy for the 2018 Hong Kong Is ...
and Jeffrey Ngo announced their resignation from the party. Later that day, the party announced its complete disbandment, saying that the resignation of several key members in light of the national security law made it difficult for it to continue its operations.
Law, the former chairman of the party, decided to flee Hong Kong and dropped out from the pro-democracy primaries in response to the security law.
On 29 July, four former members of pro-independence student group Studentlocalism aged 16 to 21, including 19-year-old
Tony Chung
Tony Chung Hon-lam (; born 22 April 2001) is a Hong Kong pro-independence activist. He was the founder and convenor of the localist camp student group Studentlocalism. On 29 July 2020, he became the first political figure to be arrested on susp ...
, were arrested over the content of social media posts, which suggested they would use all means to establish an independent republic of Hong Kong and unite all pro-independence political groups. Senior superintendent of the new national security department of the police force Steve Li cited Article 21 of the security law as stating that making statements that promote secession would constitute incitement, and it is not necessary to assess if someone was actually motivated by such content.
On 31 July, Chinese state media reported that Hong Kong police had ordered the arrest of six pro-democracy activists living in exile on suspicion of violating the national security law, including Nathan Law, former British consulate staffer
Simon Cheng
Simon Cheng Man-kit (; born 10 October 1990) is a Hong Kong activist. He was formerly a trade and investment officer at the British Consulate-General, Hong Kong, British Consulate-General in Hong Kong. Cheng was detained by Chinese authorities ...
, pro-independence activists
Ray Wong
Ray Wong Toi-yeung (; born 15 September 1993) is a Hong Kong activist. He founded the localist group Hong Kong Indigenous with other activists who were dissatisfied with the efficacy of Hong Kong's mainstream democratic movement during the 201 ...
, Wayne Chan,
Honcques Laus, and
Samuel Chu
Samuel Chu Muk Man (; born 3 January 1978) is a Hong Kong-born American activist and community organizer. Chu is the founder and President of The Campaign for Hong Kong, a US-based nonpartisan organization whose mission is to advocate for Ameri ...
. The report said the six were sought for "incitement to secession and collusion with foreign forces".
Pro-democracy primaries
![DSCF8440_(50104989307)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/DSCF8440_%2850104989307%29.jpg)
Organised by
Benny Tai
Benny Tai Yiu-ting (; born 12 July 1964) is a Hong Kong legal scholar, political figure, and democracy activist. He was an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong.
From 2013, Tai launched and is known for his initiation of ...
and former legislator
Au Nok-hin
Au Nok-hin (; born 18 June 1987) is a pro-democracy politician in Hong Kong. He is the former member of the Legislative Council for Hong Kong Island from 2018 to 2019 and member of the Southern District Council for Lei Tung I from 2012 to 201 ...
and conducted by
Power for Democracy
Power for Democracy (; PfD) was a pro-democracy political group in Hong Kong established by a group of pro-democracy activists in 2002. It worked mainly as a mediating platform for electoral coordination between the pro-democratic parties. It ...
, the pro-democracy primaries were held on 11 and 12 July. A total number of 52 people candidates from all over the spectrum in the pro-democracy movement participated in the primaries.
Over 590,000 electronic ballots and more than 20,000 paper ballots were recorded throughout the two-day vote, more than 13 per cent of the total number of registered voters and far exceeding the organisers' expected turnout of 170,000 despite the security law and legal threats.
Traditional pro-democrat parties lost ground to
localist
Localism describes a range of political philosophies which prioritize the local. Generally, localism supports local production and Local purchasing, consumption of goods, local control of government, and promotion of local history, local culture ...
parties, with many veteran democrats performing below expectations.
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
incumbent
Helena Wong Helena Wong may refer to:
* Helena Wong (weightlifter) (born 1988), Singapore weightlifter
*Helena Wong (politician)
Helena Wong Pik-wan (, born 21 March 1959) is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for Kowloon West const ...
only came seventh in her
Kowloon West
Kowloon West is the western part of Kowloon, covering the Yau Tsim Mong and Sham Shui Po District, with Kowloon City District occasionally included.
History
The boundary of Kowloon West is not strictly defined and hence varies. While traditio ...
constituency and former legislator "Long Hair"
Leung Kwok-hung
Leung Kwok-hung ( zh, t=梁國雄; born 27 March 1956), also known by his nickname "Long Hair" (), is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Legislative Council, representing the N ...
of the
League of Social Democrats
The League of Social Democrats (LSD) is a social democratic party in Hong Kong. Chaired by Chan Po-ying, wife of Leung Kwok-hung, it positions itself as the radical wing of the pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong), pro-democracy camp and stresses on ...
managed only ninth place in
New Territories East
New Territories East is the eastern part of New Territories, covering North, Tai Po, Sha Tin, and Sai Kung District.
History
All districts except Sai Kung District have been connected by the Kowloon–Canton Railway (now East Rail line) since it ...
, for which only the top seven candidates would run in the general election.
Incumbent legislator
Joseph Lee of the
Health Services
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...
constituency also lost to
Winnie Yu
Winnie Yu Tsang (, born 1954) is a Hong Kong Radio Personality and the Deputy Chairman of Commercial Radio Hong Kong.
Yu is known for her puns in creating radio programme titles and slang phrases (e.g., si-dan-up/" 是但噏", literally "free ...
of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, a labour union in Hong Kong. With many newcoming localists emerging on top, an unofficial six-person alliance led by former Demosistō secretary-general Joshua Wong, incumbent legislator
Eddie Chu
Eddie Chu Hoi-dick (; born 29 September 1977) is a Hong Kong social activist and politician. He is a member of the Local Action and founder of the Land Justice League which are involved in conservation and environmental movements. He is kno ...
, incumbent District Councillor
Lester Shum
Lester Shum O-fai ( zh, t=岑敖暉; born 11 June 1993) is a Hong Kong social activist and politician. He was a leader of the 2014 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and served as deputy secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Student ...
, former reporter
Gwyneth Ho
Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam (; born 24 August 1990) is a Hong Kong social activist and former reporter of the now defunct news outlet ''Stand News'', who rose to prominence for her frontline reporting in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. In June 2020, ...
, student activist
Sunny Cheung
Sunny Cheung Kwan-yang (; born 3 March 1996) is a Hong Kong activist and politician. He is the former spokesman for the Hong Kong Higher Institutions International Affairs Delegation (HKIAD) as the representative of the students union council of ...
and incumbent District Councillor
Tiffany Yuen
Tiffany Yuen Ka-wai ( zh, link=no, t=袁嘉蔚; born 30 September 1993) is a Hong Kong activist and politician, who has been a member of the Southern District Council for Tin Wan (constituency), Tin Wan since 2020. She was the vice chairperso ...
endorsed by withdrawn candidate Nathan Law, became the biggest winner with all of them coming either top or second in their respective constituencies.
COVID-19 pandemic and resurgence
The months-long anti-government protests and the alleged initial mishandling of the
coronavirus outbreak
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...
cost Carrie Lam's administration substantial public support. A
Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute
Dr. Robert Chung ( zh, t=鍾庭耀, j=Zung1 Ting4-jiu6) is a Hong Kong academic. He is president and chief executive officer of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, an independent institute since May 2019 and the successor organisati ...
survey in late January found 75 per cent of respondents were dissatisfied with the government's response to the outbreak, while Lam's approval rating sunk to just 9% in late February, the lowest on record. In February 2020, a confidential report by Carrie Lam to the central government revealed that Lam had attempted to win back public trust and support by effective handling of the coronavirus outbreak, which she believed would enable a political turnaround for the coming election.
![Street in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Street_in_Hong_Kong_during_the_COVID-19_pandemic.jpg)
On 5 May, two former Chief Executives
Tung Chee-hwa
Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chin ...
and
Leung Chun-ying
Leung Chun-ying (; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor, who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since Mar ...
launched a pro-Beijing alliance called the Hong Kong Coalition.
The alliance was co-sponsored by 1,545 representatives of various sectors including senior politicians, former government officials, university heads and tycoons. It said it aimed to "get Hong Kong start again" by boosting the declining economy and uniting the divided society. It also announced to give away 10 million face masks across all 18 districts of Hong Kong.
Political scientist Ivan Choy believed the alliance was set up as a part of the electioneering of the pro-Beijing camp in the coming election and to support Beijing's Hong Kong policy.
In mid July amid another spike of new confirmed coronavirus cases in the city,
Tam Yiu-chung
Tam Yiu-chung, GBM, JP (; born 15 December 1949) is a pro-Beijing politician in Hong Kong. He is a current member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Leg ...
, the sole representative from Hong Kong on
NPCSC
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...
, suggested that the government should not rule out postponing the upcoming election.
Echoed by other pro-Beijing politicians, Tam said elderly people would not go to vote out of fear of being infected. He also said that many elderly people had migrated to live in the
Greater Bay Area and would prefer not to return to Hong Kong to vote, given that the city implemented a 14-day quarantine requirement for incoming travellers, denying any criticism that the pro-Beijing camp was afraid of losing the election.
Tanya Chan
Tanya Chan (; born 14 September 1971) is a Hong Kong politician who served as a Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Legislative Councillor representing Hong Kong Island (constituency), Hong Kong Island from 2008 to 2012, and again from 2016 to 2020. ...
,
Civic Party
The Civic Party (CP) is a pro-democracy liberal political party in Hong Kong. It is currently chaired by barrister Alan Leong.
The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Basic Law Article 45 Concern Group, which was derived from the B ...
legislator and convenor of the pro-democracy camp in the legislature, said the pro-Beijing camp was urging the postponement of the LegCo election as they knew they would lose. She noted that many places, including
Queensland, Australia
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
;
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
; and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, had run their elections amid the pandemic earlier this year. Chief Executive Carrie Lam has defended her decision, saying that 68 countries or areas in the world delayed elections while only 49 went ahead as planned, although journalists have pointed out that the outbreak in Hong Kong was not as severe in comparison.
Nominations and disqualifications
In the two-week nomination period from 18 to 31 July 2020 after the announcement of postponing the election, the
Electoral Affairs Commission
The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) is the body, established under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance, that oversees electoral matters in Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Adminis ...
(EAC) received a total of 184 nominations, of which 99 were in the
geographical constituencies
In Hong Kong, geographical constituencies, as opposed to functional constituencies, are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated constituencies. There are currently 5 geographical constituencies in Hong Kong, returnin ...
and 85 in the
functional constituencies
A functional constituency is an electoral device (a non-geographical constituency) used within the political systems of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China:
* Functional constituency (Hong Kong)
* Functional cons ...
. Two nominees on the Law Ting-fai ticket withdrew on 31 July while 12 nominees were invalidated by the returning officers.
On 30 July, one day before the end of the nomination period and the government announcement of delaying the election, the
nominations of 12 opposition candidates were invalidated by the returning officers, including those of four incumbent Legislative Council members - Alvin Yeung,
Kwok Ka-ki
Kwok Ka-ki (; born 20 July 1961) is a democratic Hong Kong former politician. He is a private urology doctor, having graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong. Kwok is a member of the Civic Party, having joined on ...
,
Dennis Kwok
Dennis Kwok Wing-hang (; born 15 April 1978) is a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council having represented the Legal functional constituency from 2012 to 2020 and a founding member of Civic Party. In the Legislative Council, he w ...
and
Kenneth Leung
Kenneth Leung Kai-cheong (; born 17 October 1962) is a democratic Hong Kong politician formerly serving as a member of the Legislative Council for the Accountancy functional constituency. Professionally, he is a tax adviser and accountant. ...
- as well as activists Joshua Wong and
Ventus Lau
Ventus Lau Wing-hong (; born 8 October 1993) is a Hong Kong politician. He is the convenor of the Shatin Community Network and the founding convenor of the Community Network Union, an alliance of the localist community groups in different distric ...
. Incumbent District Councillors
Cheng Tat-hung,
Fergus Leung, Tiffany Yuen and Lester Shum were also barred from running, as well as former reporter Gwyneth Ho and
Civic Passion
Civic Passion was a radical, populist, localist, and nativist political party in Hong Kong. Founded by Wong Yeung-tat as an activist group in 2012, it held strong localist views and opposed the involvement of the Chinese government in the gov ...
's
Cheng Kam-mun. The actions sparked a political storm and a round of international condemnation.
The disqualifications were declared as based on either the candidates having advocated or promoted Hong Kong independence, self-determination as an option for self-determination; solicited intervention by foreign governments into Hong Kong's affairs; expressed "an objection in principle" to the legislation of the national security law; expressed an intention to exercise the functions of a LegCo member by indiscriminately voting down all government legislative proposals, appointments, funding applications and budgets, after securing a majority in the LegCo, in order to force the government to accede to certain political demands; or refused to recognise the People's Republic of China's sovereignty over the Hong Kong.
The last two days of the nomination period saw an influx of pro-democracy candidates submitting their nominations, in light of the 12 candidates being disqualified and many others' nominations still under review by the returning officers. It was widely speculated that many of these nominees were backup options for the disqualified or potentially disqualified candidates.
Postponement
On 31 July 2020, the last day of the nomination period in the electoral process, Carrie Lam announced her invocation of the
Emergency Regulations Ordinance
The Emergency Regulations Ordinance () is a law of Hong Kong that confers on the Chief Executive in Council the power to make regulations on occasions that the Chief Executive believes to be an emergency or public danger. It was first introduced ...
to postpone the election for a whole year, citing the resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
"The decision to postpone the 2020 LegCo election has nothing to do with politics, has nothing to do with the likely outcome of this round of election," Lam said. "It is purely on the basis of protecting the health and safety of the Hong Kong people." She said that with 4.4 million registered voters in Hong Kong, the elections would involve "a large-scale gathering and an immense infection risk", particularly to elders while social distancing measures would prevent candidates from canvassing, adding that many registered voters in mainland China and overseas would be unable to take part in the elections while border quarantine measures were in place. Lam referred to the need for all elections to be conducted fairly, openly and honestly.
Under existing law, the Chief Executive can delay an election up to 14 days if the executive believes it is likely to be "obstructed, disrupted, undermined or seriously affected by riot or open violence or any danger to public health and safety." However Lam postponed the election until 5 September 2021 under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, which gives the Chief Executive broad emergency powers to make any regulations considered to be "desirable in the public interest", claiming the uncertainty of the COVID-19 outbreak makes the 14-day delay impracticably short.
As
Article 69 of the Basic Law stipulates that the term of the LegCo shall be four years, meaning that the term of the
6th Legislative Council must end on 30 September 2020, the postponement created a lacuna in the Legislative Council between 30 September 2020 and the next election. For that, Lam said she had submitted an urgent report to the central government seeking its support and guidance. With respect to how to deal with the lacuna of the Legislative Council arising from the postponement, the Central People's Government would make a submission to the National People's Congress Standing Committee for its decision.
The
Chief Executive in Council
The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the Chief Executive. It is ...
invoked the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to make the Emergency (Date of General Election) (Seventh Term of the Legislative Council) Regulation, which was promulgated on 1 August, officially suspending the electoral process.
NPCSC decision
On 11 August the National People Congress Standing Committee unanimously passed a decision to extend the incumbent 6th Legislative Council to extend its term for no less than one year. However, it did not explain the legal basis for the extension which was in contradiction to the term limit stipulated in Article 69 of the Basic Law, neither did it mention the status of the four incumbent legislators who were barred from running by the returning officers in July. Chief Executive Carrie Lam nevertheless expressed "heartfelt gratitude" to the NPCSC which she said "demonstrates once again the care and support of the Central Government for the HKSAR."
Legal scholar Eric Cheung criticised Beijing's decision contravened Article 69 of the Basic Law, showing that Hong Kong no longer adopted the Basic Law and common law principles, but was implementing Beijing's comprehensive jurisdiction through "the legal system with Chinese characteristics". Cheung said "there's no check and balance" against the NPCSC and its "brilliant tactic" to cause in-fighting within the pro-democracy camp on whether to boycott the legislature or not. Hong Kong delegate to the National People's Congress
Ip Kwok-him
Ip Kwok-him, GBM, GBS, JP (; born 8 November 1951) is a former unofficial member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, served between 2016 and 2022. He is also former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for the District Council ...
conceded that the decision is inconsistent with the Basic Law Article 69 but argued that it brought "the least shock" to the SAR. Pro-Beijing lawmaker
Priscilla Leung
Priscilla Leung Mei-fun (; born 18 November 1960, Hong Kong) is a barrister and Hong Kong Legislative Councillor, representing the Election Committee since 2022. She previously represented the Kowloon West constituency from 2008 to 2021. She ...
defended the NPCSC decision as constitutionally valid. Leung also said Beijing's decision was giving a chance to four disqualified pro-democrat legislators as "moderate and mild" and warned them to " better behave themselves" from now on.
Responses
Domestic
The pro-democrats, who had hoped to ride a wave of deep-seated dissatisfaction with the government, accused Lam of using the pandemic as a pretext to stop people from voting. Legislator Tanya Chan said she suspected pro-government politicians were more concerned about "their own election prospects" rather than "the severity of the pandemic". Joshua Wong wrote on Twitter that the pandemic was being used as "an excuse to postpone the election" and was "the largest election fraud in #HK's history."
Pro-democracy legislator Eddie Chu said that
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
was ordering "a strategic retreat." They "want to avoid a potential devastating defeat" in the election, he wrote on Twitter.
All 22 pro-democracy legislators issued a statement accusing the government of using the outbreak as an excuse to delay the vote. They warned that doing so would "trigger a constitutional crisis in the city." The Civic Party called the postponement as "blatant manipulation", while
Lam Cheuk-ting
Lam Cheuk-ting (; born 13 June 1977) is a Democratic Party politician in Hong Kong. He is a former investigator of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and chief executive of the Democratic Party. He was a member of the North ...
of the Democratic Party compared the situation to the Beijing-installed
Provisional Legislative Council
The Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) was the interim legislature of Hong Kong that operated from 1997 to 1998. The legislature was founded in Guangzhou and sat in Shenzhen from 1996 (with offices in Hong Kong) until the handover in 1997 an ...
in 1996 after derailing arrangements under which members of the final term of the colonial Legislative Council before the
1997 handover were to become the first legislators of the Special Administrative Region. Pro-democrat legislators refused to join the provisional legislature on the grounds it was extra-constitutional and not democratically elected. "During an extended term of LegCo, the government may bulldoze unpopular proposals and bills such as the legislation to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law or amend the election laws to favour the pro-government camp," Lam said.
Academics raised questions over the postponement. Political scientist Eliza Lee criticised the government decision for not providing any convincing scientific evidence about risks to public health due to the pandemic or consulting the stakeholders including opposition parties. She cited a recent study conducted by the
European Parliamentary Research Service
The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) is the in-house research department and think tank of the European Parliament. Created in November 2013 as a directorate-general within the Parliament's permanent administration, the EPRS's miss ...
that highlighted the risks created by putting off elections, including denying citizens the chance to bring about a change in policy direction, especially in nations witnessing a backslide in democracy. Lee called the one-year postponement "excessive". Political scientist
Ma Ngok also said most Hongkongers believed the postponement was a political manoeuvre that had little to do with the health crisis. "Beijing and the pro-establishment camp are not sure if they can secure a majority in LegCo if the elections were held
ow especially when hundreds of thousands of their supporters cannot return to the city to vote," Ma said, referring to Hongkongers living overseas and across the border in mainland China.
The
Hong Kong Bar Association
The Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) is the professional regulatory body for barristers in Hong Kong. The Law Society of Hong Kong is the equivalent association for solicitors in Hong Kong.
Victor Dawes SC is the current chairman of the Cou ...
expressed "grave concern" over the postponement of the Legislative Council elections for a year, saying there were "serious doubts" about the legal and evidential basis for the decision. By creating the legal problem because of the Legislative Council's four-year term limit under the Basic Law, the Bar Association said the Hong Kong government was "effectively inviting the central government to override the relevant provisions of the Basic Law and Hong Kong legislation to circumvent possible legal challenges". It added: "This is contrary to the principles of legality and legal certainty and degrades the rule of law in Hong Kong." The association was also concerned that the government had not consulted society at large or the relevant experts regarding the decision and had provided little evidence that the government had considered alternative measures, thus failing to satisfactorily explain why the election had to be postponed for a year, instead of just weeks or months.
On 6 September 2020, the original election day, thousands of protestors went on the street to oppose the postponement of the election. Nearly 300 were arrested for alleged illegal assembly, other were arrested on suspicion of assaulting the police, obstructing police officers and disorderly conduct in public place, one woman was arrested under the
national security law for chanting "pro-independence slogans".
In a court judgement released on 28 May 2021 regarding the denial of bail to
Claudia Mo
Claudia Mo (born Mo Man-ching on 18 January 1957), also known as Claudia Bowring, is a Hong Kong journalist and politician, a member of the pan-democracy camp. She represented the Kowloon West geographical constituency, until November 2020 wh ...
, Judge Esther Toh wrote that the government had "submitted" that "conspiracy would have been carried out to fruition" had the election not been postponed. A similar phrase was used in at least one other court judgement from that time.
International
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany
Kayleigh McEnany (; born April 18, 1988) is an American conservative political commentator and author who served the administration of Donald Trump as the 33rd White House press secretary from April 2020 to January 2021.
Early in the 2016 Re ...
on 31 July denounced Hong Kong's government decision to delay legislative elections by a year due to coronavirus concerns. "This action undermines the democratic processes and freedoms that have underpinned Hong Kong’s prosperity," McEnany said. McEnany said Lam's invocation of her emergency powers to force the rescheduling represented "only the most recent in a growing list of broken promises by Beijing, which promised autonomy and freedoms to the Hong Kong people until 2047 in the
Sino-British Joint Declaration
The Sino-British Joint Declaration is a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance of the territory after ...
."
U.S. Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
Mike Pompeo
Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...
condemned the Hong Kong government's decision to postpone the election, saying there was "no valid reason for such a lengthy delay." It also added that "it is likely, therefore, that Hong Kong will never again be able to vote – for anything or anyone" and that Beijing did not intend to uphold its commitments to the Hong Kong people and the United Kingdom under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. He warned of the continuation of Hong Kong marching "toward becoming just another Communist-run city in China."
The
British Foreign Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign ...
slammed the decision to delay the election. "Free and fair elections are essential to the high degree of autonomy and rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration," a spokesperson said. "The Chinese government will need to reassure the people of Hong Kong and the world that elections will be held as soon as possible, and that they are not using Covid as a pretext to further undermine the autonomy of Hong Kong."
The United States' and United Kingdom's statements were followed by a joint statement of the foreign ministers of the "Five Eyes" consisting of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, calling on Hong Kong to reinstate disqualified candidates and hold Legislative Council elections at the earliest. "We call on the Hong Kong government to reinstate the eligibility of disqualified candidates so that the elections can take place in an environment conducive to the exercise of democratic rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Basic Law," the statement said.
Germany announced it was suspending its extradition treaty with Hong Kong over the delay of the election and disqualification of the opposition candidates. "The Hong Kong government's decision to disqualify a dozen opposition candidates for the election and to postpone the elections ... is a further encroachment on the rights of Hong Kong citizens,"
Foreign Minister
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
Heiko Maas
Heiko Josef Maas (; born 19 September 1966) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs (2018–2021) and as the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protectio ...
said in a statement: "Given the current developments, we have decided to suspend the extradition treaty with Hong Kong."
The
European Union High Representative
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held ...
issued a statement stating that the "proposed postponement by one year of the elections to the Legislative Council through recourse to emergency powers, would delay the renewal of its democratic mandate and call into question the exercise of the democratic rights and freedoms guaranteed under Hong Kong’s Basic Law." It said it was following closely the political situation in Hong Kong and reiterated that it was essential that the Legislative Council elections could take place in an environment which is conducive to the exercise of democratic rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Hong Kong's Basic Law and urged the Hong Kong authorities to reconsider the decisions.
Stay-or-go debate
The NPCSC decision sparked an internal strife within the pro-democracy camp whether to stay on the Legislative Council for the extended term. Most of the fresh face candidates who won the pro-democracy primary argued against staying at the legislature as they deemed the NPCSC as unconstitutional, while the most traditional pro-democrat incumbents believed in the functions of staying on the legislature to oppose the government bills, receiving the public funding and resources and so on. After a series of debates between the factions, a citywide survey conducted by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Institute showed 47.1 per cent of the respondents voted to stay, while 45.8 per cent to leave. Pledging to abide by the result of the poll, seven Democratic Party, four Civic Party and five
Professionals Guild
The Professionals Guild () is a pro-democracy parliamentary group in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong formed in 2016.
Overview
The Professionals Guild in Hong Kong was formed in 2016 by six pro-democracy functional constituency legislators af ...
legislators, as well as
Claudia Mo
Claudia Mo (born Mo Man-ching on 18 January 1957), also known as Claudia Bowring, is a Hong Kong journalist and politician, a member of the pan-democracy camp. She represented the Kowloon West geographical constituency, until November 2020 wh ...
,
Leung Yiu-chung
Leung Yiu-chung (, born 19 May 1953) is a Hong Kong politician. He is a member of the pro-labour Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre, part of the pan-democracy camp, and a former long-time member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong ...
, and
Fernando Cheung
Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung (; born 23 February 1957 in Macau) is a Hong Kong politician, the vice-chairman of the Labour Party, and a former member of the Legislative Council.
Career
Cheung obtained his undergraduate degree in social work fro ...
decided to stay. Tanya Chan of the Civic Party, however, announced that she would leave and resign from the party. Before the results published, incumbents Eddie Chu and
Raymond Chan
Raymond Chan (; born 1951) is the first Chinese Canadian to be appointed to the Cabinet of Canada. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Chan was elected to Parliament in the 1993 federal election, defeating then Defence Minister Tom Si ...
had also stated that they would leave.
With the four legislators being disqualified over the invalidity of the by-election results and
Ho Kai-ming's resignation earlier, the total number of members in the legislature dwindled to 62 as a result.
See also
*
2020 Hong Kong Legislative Council mass resignations
On 11 November 2020, 15 Hong Kong pro-democracy members of the Legislative Council announced their resignations in protest against the decision of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) which bars Legislative Council members fr ...
*
2020 Singaporean general election
General elections were held in Singapore on Friday, 10 July 2020 to elect 93 members to the Parliament of Singapore across 31 constituencies. Parliament was dissolved and the general election called by President Halimah Yacob on 23 June, on ...
*
2020 New Zealand general election
The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed ...
*
2021 London Assembly election
The 2021 London Assembly election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the members of the London Assembly, alongside the 2021 London mayoral election. The mayoral and Assembly elections were originally to be held on 7 May 2020, but on 13 March 2020 ...
*
2021 London mayoral election
The 2021 London mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of London. It was held simultaneously with elections for the London Assembly, other local elections across England and Wales, and devolved elections in Scotland and ...
*
2021 Hong Kong electoral reform
The 2021 Hong Kong electoral changes were initiated by the National People's Congress (NPC) on 11 March 2021 to "amend electoral rules and improve the electoral system" of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for its Chief Executive ...
References
External links
2020 Legislative Council General Election Official WebsiteElectoral Affairs Commission Official WebsiteRegistration and Electoral Office Official Website
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2020 in Hong Kong
2021 Hong Kong legislative election
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August 2020 events in China
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