Hong Kong names candidates in council polls; rejects 9

HONG KONG – Amid a dispute over candidates excluded on political grounds, Hong Kong’s government on Friday posted the names of those approved to run in the territory’s most contentious Legislative Council elections since reverting to Chinese rule almost two decades ago.

Nine candidates have been rejected over their stance on the Chinese special administrative region’s political future in what critics say is an ill omen for the city’s democratic development. Three would-be candidates have said they will appeal, although no ruling is expected before the Sept. 4 elections.

The rejections are seen as a sign of China’s growing political interference in the financial hub, which enjoys its own legal system and far greater democratic freedoms than the Communist Party-run mainland.

Friday’s notice says 289 candidates have been approved to run for the 70-seat body, half of which are elected from geographic districts and half from professional constituencies, such as engineering, tourism and the arts. Twelve of those seats are being filled by candidates running uncontested.

Election officers had warned candidates they must pledge to uphold Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, including a section stating the city is an “inalienable” part of China, and excluded those who refused. The rejected candidates who hail from Hong Kong’s marginal but growing independence movement said they refused because the demand amounted to political screening.

Despite a lack of substantial public support for Hong Kong independence, China is determined to ensure there is no discussion of the issue either during the campaign or within the council, said Joseph Cheng, a retired professor of political science formerly with the City University of Hong Kong. That could end up having the opposite of the intended effect, he said.

“People in general see this as a very rough intervention in the election process,” Cheng said. “Therefore this crackdown will generate even more resentment and more support for the cause of independence among young people,” Cheng said.