Ex-Councilors Call for Boycott of Hong Kong Government’s Sham Elections

A ballot box arriving at the Central Counting Station in the Election Committee Subsector Ordinary election in 2021, in Hong Kong.  (Sung Pi-lung/The Epoch Times)

A group of former Hong Kong district councilors now in exile has called on Hong Kong citizens to boycott the upcoming district council elections held by Hong Kong authorities.

The Hong Kong government changed the city’s electoral system in July by drastically reducing the number of directly elected seats to 20 percent, explicitly stating that the District Council’s functions include supporting the government’s policies.

“Since the forced implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong in 2020, the Chinese Communist Party and the Hong Kong authorities have been systematically changing the political landscape of Hong Kong in a destructive manner to stifle all voices opposing the Chinese Communist Party,” reads an Oct. 16 statement by Hong Kong District Councilor Diaspora Network.

“Recently, they [the government] announced their intention to hold so-called district council elections by the end of this year, aiming to replace the district councillors elected by Hong Kong citizens through democratic processes in 2019, who represented the voices of Hong Kong’s citizens.

“We, as the last group of district councillors elected by the citizens of Hong Kong, solemnly declare that we will not recognize this supposed election arranged by the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities, and we call on all Hong Kong citizens to boycott this so-called election and the so-called councillors elected through it.”

The statement, titled “Abandon Illusions, Boycotting Sham Election,” was co-signed by 12 former Hong Kong district councillors, including Ted Hui, who is now in exile in Australia, Sam Yip, now in Japan, Man Yau and Ben Lam, now in the United Kingdom.

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Hong Kong’s district councils were predominantly democratically elected until 2022. During the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Movement in 2019, pro-democracy councillors seized over 80 percent of the seats. To control Hong Kong’s district councils, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tampered with Hong Kong’s electoral system in 2022, reducing the number of elected seats from 452 to 88.

Legislators vote for the third reading of the District Councils (Amendment) Bill, which pertains to electoral overhaul, at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong on July 6, 2023. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

The turnout rate in the 2021 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was only 30.2 percent, and it is estimated that the turnout rate of the District Council elections this time will only be 20 to 25 percent, according to Mr. Lam.

“Only the deep blue ribbon [supporters of the Hong Kong government] will go to vote,” he told The Epoch Times on Oct. 17.

‘Participating in Sham Elections is Democratic Regression’

The former councillors alleged that new district councils could no longer represent Hong Kong citizens but are “propaganda teams under government’s control.”

“While some citizens may believe that they can ‘vote’ for the former ‘pro-democracy’ figures to give them a lifeline and uphold their presence in the community, participating in sham elections, recognizing tyranny, and pretending that everything is normal in Hong Kong will only endorse democratic regression and inflict harm on the overall well-being of Hong Kong,” reads the statement.

In September, the Democratic Party in Hong Kong announced that eight people had been authorized to represent the Party to run in the new District Council election. Lo Kin-hei, Chairman of the Party, believes that he can still serve those who choose to stay in Hong Kong and build up community ties through district work.

Sam Yip, a member of the Network who co-signed the statement, said that even though some candidates may have good intentions to serve the community, their participation in this “sham election” could only backfire.

“When the CCP is not going to allow them to run in the elections, they will only be endorsing the monkey show of the regime if they hastily attempt to run in the elections, and this so-called election and legislature are fundamentally against the concepts of democracy,” he said.

Polling Station Officers Appointed by Disciplinary Forces

Tsang Kwok Wai Erick, the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, said on Oct. 16 that given the chaos in past elections, coupled with the fact that the disciplinary forces are experienced in law enforcement and can cope with unforeseen circumstances, the Presiding Officers or Deputy Presiding Officers of the 600 polling stations for the upcoming District Elections will be staffed by members of disciplinary forces as far as possible.

Chan Po-ying, an activist and leader of the League of Social Democrats, is detained by police officers at Causeway Bay near Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4, 2023. (Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

The former councillors criticized the move as “handing over the governing power of Hong Kong to the armed forces,” and “fundamentally violating the principle of civilian politics that has been in place since the establishment of Hong Kong.”

“This so-called election, in reality, is conducted under military rule, devoid of legitimacy and fairness,” they wrote in the statement.

Former Councillor Still Wanted for Boycotting LegCo Election

This is not the first time that some have advocated boycotting elections in Hong Kong under the control of Beijing.

Under the joint efforts of the CCP and the Hong Kong government, Hong Kong’s electoral system has been drastically curtailed to “perfect” the system and ensure that “patriots rule Hong Kong.” In addition, a vetting system has been introduced to check the eligibility of candidates and reject any that do not meet these requirements.

The authorities also legislated two new offences under the electoral system to suppress opposition, including “intentionally obstructing or preventing another person from voting at an election” and “inciting another person, by any activity in public during an election, not to vote or to cast an invalid vote.”

Many were arrested and sentenced after these new offences came into force. In 2021, former councillors Ted Hui, who can now practice law in Australia, and Man Yau were wanted by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) for “displaying posts on a social media page, which incited other persons to cast blank votes and not to vote” at the 2021 Legislative Council General Election.