Pro-democracy candidates in Hong Kong, stung by sex and money scandals, made only limited gains while the China camp made big gains in directly elected seats in legislative elections, results showed on Monday.
In a major blow for pro-democracy forces, their candidates managed to win just 18 directly elected seats in the 60-seat Legislative Council, little changed from 17 in the last election and well below expectations.
Wary not to anger China’s communist rulers, voters ensured a better-than-expected showing for the pro-Beijing camp, which took 12 of the 30 directly elected seats, up from just seven in the 2000 poll, the preliminary official results showed.
Results for the other 30 seats, elected by small limited interest groups, had yet to be released but have traditionally been dominated by the pro-Bejing camp.
Analysts had said a stronger democratic presence in the legislature was bound to rattle China’s communist leaders in Beijing, who fear they could lose control of the territory they took back from Britain in 1997.