Hong Kong stages ‘illegal’ referendum

More than 668,000 Hong Kong people have voted after the third day of a democracy poll that China says is illegal, dwarfing the most optimistic forecasts by organisers.

The unofficial 10-day referendum on how to select Hong Kong’s top leader is organised by Occupy Central with Love and Peace, a protest group that plans to hold a sit-in in the city’s financial district if electoral reforms do not meet its demands.

The turnout, including electronic ballots, equals about 19 per cent of the city’s registered voters and was more than twice the organisers’ most-optimistic forecasts. “We must fight to voice our opinions before getting shut up,” Johnny Lam (76) said in Causeway Bay after voting at one of the physical polling stations that opened yesterday. “China promised us autonomy when it took over Hong Kong, but we are feeling fooled.”

Since the city’s return to Chinese rule in 1997, a pro-Beijing committee has selected Hong Kong’s leader. China has promised some form of universal suffrage for the next chief executive election in 2017 with the caveat that candidates must be vetted.

The poll, which runs to June 29th, offers three chief executive election plans, all involving a popular vote.

Interest in the referendum has been fuelled by China’s decision earlier this month to issue a White Paper on Hong Kong, asserting its national interests took priority over those of Hong Kong. The document says some people are “confused or lopsided” in their understanding of the autonomy conferred on the southern city by the Chinese government.

Hong Kong was granted its own legal system and autonomy over most matters for 50 years under a “One Country, Two Systems” policy after the UK returned the territory to China in 1997.

About 15 polling stations opened yesterday in churches, universities and training centres across the city, attracting about 40,000 voters. Hong Kong had 3.47 million registered voters in 2012, according to the government’s website. The city had a population of 7.2 million people at the end of last year, the website shows.

Joe Chan (47) brought his son to the polling station yesterday so that he could witness democracy in action, he said. “I want him to find out what is going on in Hong Kong,” he said.

– (Bloomberg)