‘Beijing will not tighten Hong Kong policy just because radical localist did well in by-election’
Mainland expert says most people who supported Edward Leung were simply casting protest votes and do not support independence for the city
The central government will not tighten its policies on Hong Kong after a localist candidate scored a sizeable vote share in Sunday’s Legislative Council by-election in New Territories East, a mainland expert on Hong Kong affairs said on Wednesday.
Qi Pengfei, director of Renmin University’s research centre on Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, said Beijing still maintained that “one country, two systems” had been successfully implemented in Hong Kong and did not believe the situation of Hong Kong had grown out of control despite the recent riot.
In an interview with the Post in Beijing, Qi said most of the 66,524 voters who backed Edward Leung
These voters think traditional pan-democrats cannot speak for them. The absolute majority of voters who supported Leung actually do not back Hong Kong independence
Tin-kei used their ballots to express discontent with the Hong Kong government and its handling of some social issues.
“They are worried that the central government is tightening its policies on Hong Kong, so they are looking for someone to voice out their concerns,” he said.
“These voters think traditional pan-democrats cannot speak for them. The absolute majority of voters who supported Leung actually do not back Hong Kong independence.
“The central government won’t tighten or change its policies on Hong Kong simply because Leung won more than 66,000 votes in the by-election,” Qi said.
Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu of the Civic Party won the seat, retaining the pan-democrats’ numbers in the Legislative Council and its ability to block unpopular bills. But Leung’s vote share has sparked concerns that the Legco elections in September will become even more intense if localists become a third force on the political scene.
