A source close to high-ranking Chinese officials said that Communist Party leader Xi Jinping was dumbstruck by the landslide victory of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp during the city’s district elections. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam was confident that the pro-Beijing camp would “definitely win,” thus allowing for the elections to be held as scheduled.
The insider, who chose to remain anonymous, spoke to the Chinese-language Epoch Times on Dec. 3. He said that officials from the Hong Kong Liaison Office, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (Beijing’s two main bodies handling Hong Kong affairs), and Carrie Lam all misjudged the situation and reported to the central authorities that the local elections should take place.
