Hong Kong goes to the polls after China purge of pro-democracy voices
By Jennifer Jett and NBC News
December 19, 2021
The last time Hong Kong held an election, at the height of anti-government protests in 2019, pro-democracy candidates scored their biggest victory ever, winning control of 17 out of 18 district councils.
This time, as the Chinese territory holds an election for its legislature, no one from a pro-democracy party is even running.
The election on Sunday is Hong Kong’s first since a dramatic overhaul of its electoral system that critics say is aimed at tightening Beijing’s grip on the legislature, known as the Legislative Council, and further silencing opposition figures. Many of the territory’s democratic politicians are already in prison or awaiting trial; others have been barred from running, resigned from politics or gone into self-exile overseas after a crackdown on dissent that included a sweeping national security law Beijing imposed last year.
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