Pro-democracy candidates in Hong Kong have won back only two of the four seats up for grabs in a crucial by-election. The result means the democrats will lose veto power over some bills in the city's legislature.
Disqualified lawmakers Agnes Chow and Edward YiuImage: Getty Images/AFP/P. Fong
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Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp claimed just two spots in the semi-autonomous Chinese region's legislative council, according to the final vote tally announced on Monday.
Blow for Hong Kong democrats in key elections
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The tense weekend by-election was held to replace four of six democrat lawmakers who were expelled from office after their oaths of allegiance were declared invalid. The ousted group, which included protest leaders and activists, had modified their pledges during a 2016 swearing-in ceremony in a show of protest against Beijing.
Au Nok-hin, who replaced disqualified candidate and pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, won a seat in Hong Kong Island, while Gary Fan won for New Territories East.
Edward Yiu, who was stripped of his seat last July, lost out to pro-establishment Vincent Cheng by a slim margin in the Kowloon West district. The fourth seat was also taken by a pro-Beijing candidate.
The two remaining empty seats will be decided at a later date.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty twenty years ago, after 156 years of British rule. The territory's history during this time has been marked by numerous protests against mainland China and the SARS pandemic.
Image: Reuters/B. Yip
1997: Historic moment
The handover of Hong Kong's sovereignty from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China took place on July 1, 1997. The territory on China's Pearl River Delta became a British colony in 1842 and was occupied by Japan during World War II. After Hong Kong's return to China, the political situation was described as "one country, two systems."
Image: Reuters/D. Martinez
1999: No family reunions
Divided families, who had been split by the Hong Kong border, had hoped to be reunited after the territory's return to China. But with a daily quota of only 150 mainland Chinese allowed to settle in Hong Kong, many were left disapointed. This photo from 1999 shows mainland Chinese visitors protesting outside Hong Kong's Legal Aid Department after they were denied residency permits.
Image: Reuters/B. Yip
2002: Dashed hopes
The residency issue flared up again in April 2002 when Hong Kong began deporting some 4,000 mainland Chinese who had lost legal battles to stay in the territory. These desperate families were evicted from a central park where they had been protesting.
Image: Reuters/K. Cheung
2003: The SARS pandemic hits
In 2003, the highly contagious SARS virus spread through Hong Kong. The territory was hard hit by the flu-like virus and in March, the WHO declared it a pandemic. This man attended Doctor Tse Yuen-man's funeral in May. Dr. Tse had volunteered to care for SARS patients and had contracted the virus herself. Hong Kong was declared SARS-free in June 2003. Almost 300 people had died of the disease.
Image: Reuters/B. Yip
2004: Rally for democracy
China's policy of "one country, two systems" has often created tension. In 2004, on the seventh anniversary of the handover, hundreds of thousands of people protested in Hong Kong, demanding political reform. They were calling for democracy and direct elections for Hong Kong's next leader.
Image: Reuters/B. Yip
2008: No place to live
Soaring property prices in Hong Kong forced rents higher. By 2008, it wasn't unusual to see people like Kong Siu-kau living in so-called "cage homes," 15-square-foot (1.4 square meters) wire mesh cubicles, eight of which were usually crammed into one room. Today an estimated 200,000 people call a wire cage, or a single bed in a shared apartment, home.
Image: Reuters/V. Fraile
2009: Remembering Tiananmen Square
On the twentieth anniversary of the government's brutal crackdown in Tiananmen Square, Hong Kong residents gathered for a candlelight vigil in Victoria Park. It showed how different Hong Kong is from China, where the massacre of pro-democracy supporters and students on June 4, 1989, is usually only referred to as the June Fourth Incident.
Image: Reuters/A. Tam
2014: Occupy Central
Starting in September 2014, large-scale protests demanding more autonomy rocked Hong Kong for over two months. Beijing had announced that China would decide on the candidates for the 2017 election of Hong Kong's chief executive. The protests were referred to as the Umbrella Revolution, because protesters used umbrellas to fend off pepper spray and tear gas used by police.
Image: Reuters/T. Siu
2015: Sport becomes political
Less than a year after the Occupy Central protests ended, China played against Hong Kong in a soccer World Cup qualifiying match on November 17, 2015. The guests did not receive a friendly welcome in Hong Kong. Fans booed when the Chinese national anthem was played and held up posters saying "Hong Kong is not China." The match ended 0-0.
Image: Reuters/B. Yip
2016: Another bout of violence
In February 2016, Hong Kong's rough police tactics made headlines again. Authorities tried to remove illegal street vendors from a working-class Hong Kong neighborhood. They sent riot police, who used batons and pepper spray against protesters, and also fired live warning shots into the air. The street clashes were the worst since the Umbrella Revolution in 2014.
"I won't say the result today is a victory," Au told journalists after the results were announced. "I would say it's only a hollow victory, because we've paid a rather high price for it. The democracy camp has faced huge suppressions due to the political turmoil in these years."
The election result means the opposition democrats now hold 26 of the 70 seats in a chamber stacked with China loyalists. They still have the power to block major legislation needing two thirds backing to pass, but they no longer have enough seats to veto other bills that require a lower threshold.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, has been governed under a "one country, two systems" agreement since 1997 when Britain handed the territory back to China. Under the deal, citizens have the right to freedom of speech and a partially directly elected parliament, as well as an independent judiciary.
Activists fear Beijing is seeking to clamp down on political debate and tighten its grip on the semi-autonomous city.Mass protests in 2014, known as the Umbrella Movement, called for major reform, including self-determination and independence from China.
