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Hong Kong radical candidate makes strong showing in vote | Hong Kong radical candidate makes strong showing in vote |
(about 1 hour later) | |
HONG KONG — A pro-democracy candidate won a Hong Kong weekend by-election while a rival from a radical pro-independence group who’s facing riot charges placed a surprising third in a vote seen as a measure of political tension in the Chinese city. | |
The mainstream Civic Party’s Alvin Yeung won the Legislative Council seat with 160,880 votes representing 37 percent of the turnout, edging out pro-Beijing candidate Holden Chow by about 10,000 votes, according to results released early Monday. | |
But the front-runners were overshadowed by Edward Leung of Hong Kong Indigenous, who garnered 15 percent of about 434,000 votes cast. His group is part of a fledgling movement advocating Hong Kong’s independence from China. | |
The movement has gained support amid growing unease over signs Beijing is tightening its grip on the specially administered Chinese region. | The movement has gained support amid growing unease over signs Beijing is tightening its grip on the specially administered Chinese region. |
Hong Kong Indigenous is one of a number of groups that sprang up in the wake of pro-democracy street protests in 2014 that ended without a satisfactory resolution as Beijing refused to give any major concessions. | |
Leung is one of the leaders of Hong Kong Indigenous, which also advocates radical protest methods. He’s among dozens of people charged with taking part in a riot following a violent nightlong clash with police at a Lunar New Year holiday street food market earlier this month that was sparked by concerns that the city’s local culture is disappearing. | |
Beijing has condemned groups like Leung’s, calling them “radical splitting forces.” | |
Sunday’s vote serves as a prelude to citywide elections later this year for the legislature that are expected to be fiercely contested by pro-democracy and pro-Beijing parties. | |
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |