Hong Kong: what next?
- Thread starter treelover
- Start date
Caine Road, Central, HK Island, @ 10:45am. (At the 2019 District Council Elections, the queue here was typically about 200m long).
Tung Chung Community Centre polling station at @ 10:30am.
And yet, what have we here? The China Daily presents a very upbeat picture (hint, China Daily is a CCP-owned, mainland-based news organisation.)
www.chinadaily.com.cn
Woof
Tung Chung Community Centre polling station at @ 10:30am.
And yet, what have we here? The China Daily presents a very upbeat picture (hint, China Daily is a CCP-owned, mainland-based news organisation.)
HK gripped by election enthusiasm
Hong Kong people's enthusiasm and expectations are running high for Sunday's Legislative Council election.
www.chinadaily.com.cn
Woof
So ...
Announced at 12:06am on 20th December 2021 ...
The overall turnout for the 90 seats in LegCo was @ 30%.
BUT ...
Seventy (70) of these ninety (90) seats were not democratically elected. They were CCP-appointed (forty seats,) or corporate votes and CCP-controlled special interest groups (thirty seats) - small circle selections with a handful of "voters".
Among the twenty (20) seats in geographical constituencies, open to the public electorate of close to 4.5 million ...
... The turnout was under 30%. Under thirty percent. Despite all the dubious shenanigans to increase turnout.
In the 2016 LegCo elections, the turnout in geographical constituencies was @ 60% - that was for 35 out of the 70 seats at that time that were democratically elected (the other half being CCP-controlled).
The pan-democatic camp has always (for decades,) commanded 58% - 62% of the free vote in LegCo, the pro-CCP camp 38% - 42%.
In this LegCo election, even the 20 directly elected seats had all democratically inclined candidates excluded from participation.
In the last, truly democratic, election in HK (local councils, FPTP, November 2019), the pan-democratic camp won 87% of 450 seats across 18 districts on a 72% turnout of a 4.5 million electorate - and assumed the chair of 17 of the 18 District Councils. District Councils have since been abolished.
We must all thank the CCP for our brand new shiny "improved" electoral system, with only CCP-supporting "patriots" allowed to participate.
Stability and prosperity.
Good night good peeps. I'm going to go and vomit and then go to bed.
Be nice to each other.
Come Bells.
Rest.
Woof
Announced at 12:06am on 20th December 2021 ...
The overall turnout for the 90 seats in LegCo was @ 30%.
BUT ...
Seventy (70) of these ninety (90) seats were not democratically elected. They were CCP-appointed (forty seats,) or corporate votes and CCP-controlled special interest groups (thirty seats) - small circle selections with a handful of "voters".
Among the twenty (20) seats in geographical constituencies, open to the public electorate of close to 4.5 million ...
... The turnout was under 30%. Under thirty percent. Despite all the dubious shenanigans to increase turnout.
In the 2016 LegCo elections, the turnout in geographical constituencies was @ 60% - that was for 35 out of the 70 seats at that time that were democratically elected (the other half being CCP-controlled).
The pan-democatic camp has always (for decades,) commanded 58% - 62% of the free vote in LegCo, the pro-CCP camp 38% - 42%.
In this LegCo election, even the 20 directly elected seats had all democratically inclined candidates excluded from participation.
In the last, truly democratic, election in HK (local councils, FPTP, November 2019), the pan-democratic camp won 87% of 450 seats across 18 districts on a 72% turnout of a 4.5 million electorate - and assumed the chair of 17 of the 18 District Councils. District Councils have since been abolished.
We must all thank the CCP for our brand new shiny "improved" electoral system, with only CCP-supporting "patriots" allowed to participate.
Stability and prosperity.
Good night good peeps. I'm going to go and vomit and then go to bed.
Be nice to each other.
Come Bells.
Rest.
Woof
Yeah. True enough, weltweit.
But a bit of an insipid cliche if trying to apply it to the current HK context, which is hardly comparable to any other remotely democratic society.
Rest well.
Night.
Woof
Carl Steele
Well-Known Member
Is the low turnout a protest, or a sign of people being resigned to the situation, or maybe a mix of both?
Peter Painter
Well-Known Member
Stay strong, Jessie.
Here's a powerful old song (performed here by a couple of my mates and sung in English) which often gives me strength when i consider fascist/totalitarian oppression.
I dedicate it to you and Bella and all of Hong Kong..
Here's a powerful old song (performed here by a couple of my mates and sung in English) which often gives me strength when i consider fascist/totalitarian oppression.
I dedicate it to you and Bella and all of Hong Kong..
Last edited:
Hey Carl Steele.
It's a resignation. A boycott. A final rejection. A permanent refusal to participate in sham elections run by a fascist regime.
The protest vote will be included in the turnout figures; blank, spoiled, invalid, etc. ballots - all of which will be cast in the 20 geographical seats (none, of course, in the other 70 seats). It will be an interesting figure to note and will further show the disdain in which the majority hold this entire charade.
But no. This is a permanent boycott. Any future elections will have fewer protest votes and a greater number boycotting. The majority of people here are fairly well educated, well informed, pragmatic and not stupid - and already leaving in their many, many tens of thousands, with many hundreds of thousands to follow over the next decade.
Anyway.
Come Bells.
Bed.
Woof
It's a resignation. A boycott. A final rejection. A permanent refusal to participate in sham elections run by a fascist regime.
The protest vote will be included in the turnout figures; blank, spoiled, invalid, etc. ballots - all of which will be cast in the 20 geographical seats (none, of course, in the other 70 seats). It will be an interesting figure to note and will further show the disdain in which the majority hold this entire charade.
But no. This is a permanent boycott. Any future elections will have fewer protest votes and a greater number boycotting. The majority of people here are fairly well educated, well informed, pragmatic and not stupid - and already leaving in their many, many tens of thousands, with many hundreds of thousands to follow over the next decade.
Anyway.
Come Bells.
Bed.
Woof
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
what's that thing about the party getting a new people because the auld ones were too intractable?
Yup.
The CCP desperately wants to hold on to and control the infrastructure, the system, the "law", the media, education, the facade of fairness and openness, etc. etc. etc.
The people? Not so much.
They're dispensable and easily replaceable, with millions of eager and ready recruits from the north.
It's a total sham. A charade. A lie.
Gaslighting.
Fascism.
Chilling.
Night.
Woof
Heh!
The flower of the partisan fighter ...
Bella; Ciao! Ciao! Ciao! (Or in her case; Chow, chow, chow!)
I do love guitar-driven, male vocalist, European folk music.
Thank you, Peter. That was a sweet treat.
Woof
"The protest vote will be included in the turnout figures; blank, spoiled, invalid, etc. ballots - all of which will be cast in the 20 geographical seats (none, of course, in the other 70 seats). It will be an interesting figure to note and will further show the disdain in which the majority hold this entire charade."
So ...
It turns out that the protest vote was somewhat over 2% - about 30,000 votes. ALL of them cast among the 20-of-90 directly elected seats. None of them in the 70 directly-CCP-controlled seats (but, remember, they also pick the candidates for the 20 seats that the public can vote for).
Some interesting points ...
That means that the, overall, valid turnout was a shade under 28%. With a touch over 2% protest vote.
In all previous LegCo (and I think ALL,) elections, the total number of "invalid" ballots cast (blank, spoiled, unclear, vote for more than one candidate, etc. etc.,) has been fewer than 100 in total - on a far, far higher turnout.
This year, the 30,000 "invalid" ballots represents many, many multiples of the number of votes cast for any winning candidate among the 70 non-directly elected seats (many of them won by fewer than a hundred votes or just a few hundred).
Only five of the winning candidates from the (all pre-selected candidates,) in the 20 directly elected seats, won with more than 30,000 votes. Another 10 were straggling between 10,000 and 25,000 votes each. A further five won with between 3,000 and 10,000 votes each.
All ninety LegCo seats have been filled by candidates the CCP approves of.
One of the 90 has since stood up and said he prefers a more democratic model - but very gradually though, of course; very, very, gradually.
The thing is ... nobody's ever heard of him before!
The other 89 are just blabbering and gushing about how wonderful, inclusive, diverse and competitive the new "improved" democracy is - and adorning each other with celebratory flower bouquets.
Say Yay! Stability! Harmony!
Happy days!
Come Bella.
Say Ciao!
Be nice to each other peeps.
Night.
Woof
We knew it was going to happen but still ...
They came last night, undercover of darkness, and erected screens around the Pillar of Shame to hide their vandalism. She was demolished; broken into three pieces and hauled into a 20ft container, which was then lifted by crane and lowered onto the back of of a lorry, then away into the night.
I remember well the monument's installation more than a quarter of a century ago.
I will never forget its removal.
(Thread from Xinqi Su with video clips.)
Merry Christmas!
Woof
They came last night, undercover of darkness, and erected screens around the Pillar of Shame to hide their vandalism. She was demolished; broken into three pieces and hauled into a 20ft container, which was then lifted by crane and lowered onto the back of of a lorry, then away into the night.
I remember well the monument's installation more than a quarter of a century ago.
I will never forget its removal.
(Thread from Xinqi Su with video clips.)
Merry Christmas!
Woof
This piece in Bloomberg is a good analysis of the misuse of the "Terrorism" elements of the NSL.
www.bloomberg.com
Woof
Hong Kong Went from Zero to 29 Terrorism Arrests in 18 Months
Cases surge as China extends hard-line approach risking finance hub’s safe reputation
www.bloomberg.com
Woof
Hannah Arendt usually/always has something astute to add ...
“Truth, though powerless and always defeated in a head-on clash with the powers that be, possesses a strength of its own: whatever those in power may contrive, they are unable to discover or invent a viable substitute for it.”
Woof
“Truth, though powerless and always defeated in a head-on clash with the powers that be, possesses a strength of its own: whatever those in power may contrive, they are unable to discover or invent a viable substitute for it.”
Woof
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
The iron grip of the CCP is relentless
Look after yourself Jessie
Look after yourself Jessie
I have to say that when I left China feeling disturbed by the way things were going, it was very difficult to explain it to people without sounding like a paranoid maniac going on about concentration camps and mass surveillance - thankfully media and public opinion have caught up a bit now.
At that time I found a lot of solace reading the selected works of Hannah Arendt which seemed to me to explain very well what was happening in China and helped me to process it and conceptualise it.
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