A statement on the victory of Democrats in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council Election by Initiatives for China/Citizen Power for China (IFC/CPFC)
Sept. 5, 2016
The results of the sixth Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) election was announced today, and the non-establishment camp won 30 seats, with winners including the traditional pan-democratic groups and local groups that rose from the Umbrella Movement. They won three more seats than in the last LegCo and successfully held the “critical minority” – one third of the veto power of political reform and the veto power of the local direct election count. This is a victory of the Democrats in Hong Kong. IFC/CPFC hereby expresses our congratulations.
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| Nathan Law speaking at the Hong Kong Panel of the 10th Interethnic Interfaith Leadership Conference, Washington, D.C. April 2015 |
The past LegCo election was the first of its kind in the post-Umbrella Movement era. Due to the Chinese Communist regime’s arrogance and its betrayal of the public opinion of Hong Kong, the movement did not achieve any progress toward democratization at the institutional level. However, it has made citizens of Hong Kong distrustful of the Chinese Communist Party’s “one country, two systems” policy. It also gave birth to a number of organizations mainly consisting of the younger generation who advocate Hong Kong’s self-determination or political independence. This has changed the political environment in Hong Kong. Although some people deem their political demands unrealistic, no one can deny their emergence in the political scene of Hong Kong, and that a major political breakthrough has been achieved. This reflects the failure of governance of Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist regime, and the local awareness of Hong Kong has become an assignable political reality. The Chief Executive of Hong, Kong Leung Chun-ying, is ironically dubbed “the father of independence of Hong Kong.” Indeed, along that line of logic, the father of independence is none other than the Chinese Communist government itself.
It is encouraging to see the twenty-three-year-old Chairman of the “Hong Kong Demosisto” Nathan Law becoming the youngest LegCo member in Hong Kong’s history. He was one of the key leaders in the Umbrella Movement. He then became Secretary-General of Hong Kong Federation of Students. In April of 2015, he and two former Secretary-Generals of the organization Alex Chow and Andrew To went to Washington DC to attend the Tenth InterEthnic/InterFaith Leadership Conference hosted by IFC/CPFC, where he received the Citizen Power Award on behalf of the Federation of Hong Kong Students. Congratulations to Nathan!
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| Nathan Law receives the Citizen Power Award on behalf of Hong Kong Federation of Students at the 10th Interethnic Interfaith Leadership Conference, Washington, D.C. April 2015 |
We note that, in this complex and difficult election, seven candidates in the pan-democratic camp sacrificed their political opportunities to ensure that one-third of LegCo members form the critical minority. This shows the solidarity of the democrats at this critical moment. IFC/CPFC pays them our high tribute.
The democrats’ victory in LegCo indicates that the future LegCo and the streets that echo each other will be democrats’ major venues in upholding and realizing public opinion. We are hopeful that the Democrats in Hong Kong will maintain a balance at every step to steadily push forward the process of democratization in Hong Kong. Undoubtedly, China’s democratization will benefit from the advancing democrats in Hong Kong.
Given the nature of Beijing’s political system and its leaders’ stubbornness, we can foresee, facing the victory of democrats in Hong Kong and the rise of local awareness, the Chinese Communist regime will take more stringent measures in political, economic, legal and diplomatic domains and even the underworld to purge the democrats. Citizen Power will pay close attention to the dynamic in Hong Kong and work with people in China and in the international community to support the people of Hong Kong in defending their freedoms.