Hong Kong election: Anti-China activists gain foothold

Law's new party wants a vote on whether Hong Kong should stay part of China

Pro-democracy alliance set to retain veto power in first Legislative Council elections since the mass rallies of 2014.

Several pro-independence candidates have won seats in Hong Kong's legislative election - the first since the so-called Umbrella Revolution of 2014 - which saw a record turnout in the Chinese-controlled city.

An initial count on Monday also suggested Hong Kong's pro-democracy opposition might retain its crucial one-third veto bloc in the 70-seat Legislative Council (Legco) over major legislation and public funding that has helped check China's influence.


Full results were not due till later in the day. At some polling stations, there were long queues until until 2:30am local time (18:30 Sunday GMT) - four hours later than the scheduled cut-off time - with a turnout of almost 60 percent of 3.7 million voters.

Nathan Law Kwun-chung, the former student leader of the Umbrella Revolution rallies, has won his seat.
Law, 23, contested as a candidate of the Demosisto party, which wants a referendum for Hong Kong residents on whether they should stay part of China.

"I think Hong Kongers really wanted change," he said, celebrating his win. "Young people have a sense of urgency when it comes to the future."

Law was a key figure in the 2014 pro-democracy movement which saw parts of downtown Hong Kong occupied for 79 days in protest of a controversial electoral reform bill.

Growing concern

The city-wide vote was the biggest since mass pro-democracy protests in 2014 and saw candidates fighting for seats in the Legco, as concerns grow that China is tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city.

"There have been some emotional scenes here at the election centre as the results come in bearing out the expected trend that have been predicting the rise of the so-called localist movement," Al Jazeera's Rob McBride, reporting from Hong Kong, said.

"These new parties and groupings have grown largely out of the Occupy movement two years ago, groups with very different agenda from the mainstream pro-democracy groups.