* Pro-democracy camp takes majority district seats for first time
* Elections seen as test for Hong Kong chief Carrie Lam
* Record turnout of more than 71% - electoral chief
HONG KONG - Pro-democracy candidates in Hong Kong romped to a landslide and symbolic majority in district council elections after residents turned out in record numbers on Sunday to vote following six months of anti-government protests in the embattled city.
In a rare weekend lull in the unrest that has embroiled the financial hub, democratic candidates across the city of 7.4 million secured more than half of the 452 district council seats for the first time, against a strongly resourced and mobilized pro-establishment opposition.
Hong Kong's district councils control some spending and decide a range of local livelihood issues such as transport, and they also serve as an important grassroots platform to radiate political influence in the city ruled by communist China.
Some winning candidates said the result was akin to a vote of support for the protest movement, and could raise the pressure on Hong Kong's pro-Beijing chief executive, Carrie Lam, amid the city's worst political crisis in decades.
"This is the power of democracy. This is a democratic tsunami," said Tommy Cheung, a former student protest leader who won a seat in the Yuen Long district close to China's border.
Initial results from the voting, which ended with no major disruptions in a day that saw massive queues form outside many voting centers, began to trickle in after midnight.
Many people clamored to vote early, fearful that possible disruptions would lead to voting centers closing early.
As of 5:00 a.m. (2100 GMT), pro-democracy candidates had secured a majority with at least 283 seats, compared to about 32 seats for the pro-establishment camp, according to local media estimates. A record 1,104 candidates were vying for 452 seats.
Electoral affairs chief Barnabus Fung said at least 2.94 million people voted, a record turnout of more than 71% that appeared to have been spurred by the turmoil. About 1.47 million voted in the last district elections four years ago.
"The performance of the pro-democracy camp will send a signal to Beijing," said Andrew Li, a 22-year-old student who supported a pro-democracy candidate. "By ignoring people's demands, it wakes up all Hong Kong people to come out and vote."
FORMAL CONFRONTATION
Demonstrators are angry at what they see as Chinese meddling in the freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. They say they are also responding to perceived police brutality.
China denies interfering and says it is committed to the "one country, two systems" formula for the autonomy of Hong Kong. Police say they have shown restraint in the face of potentially deadly attacks.
Jimmy Sham, a candidate for the Civil Human Rights Front, which organised some of the anti-government rallies, won his electoral contest and said the turnout should be a sign to the government that it should listen to their voices.
"This election is special because it is a formal confrontation between pro-establishment and pro-democracy parties after months of unrest caused by the misstep of government," he said, standing on crutches weeks after he was beaten by men with hammers during a rally in October.
"It is a victory for the people of Hong Kong."
Other successful pro-democracy candidates included Lester Shum, a former student leader of the umbrella movement in 2014, and Kelvin Lam, who stood in after activist Joshua Wong was barred from running.
A number of pro-Beijing heavyweights including Junius Ho, an incumbent injured in a knife attack this month, lost to a pro-democracy challenger. In a message on his Facebook page, Ho said it had been an "exceptional year, an exceptional election, and an unusual result".
Some veteran pro-Beijing politicians, who have been shoo-ins in previous polls, attributed their losses to the broader discontent.
"Our loss is not because of our work in the local districts, it’s because of the political sentiment," said Horace Cheung, who noted he received 500 more votes this year than four years ago, but still lost.
CAMPUS STANDOFF
Casting her ballot, Hong Kong's chief executive Lam, who is backed by Beijing, pledged that her government would listen more intensively to the views of district councils.
"I hope this kind of stability and calm is not only for today's election, but to show that everyone does not want Hong Kong to fall into a chaotic situation again," Lam said.
The protests started over a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial but rapidly evolved into calls for full democracy, posing the biggest popular challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.
The protests have at times forced the closure of government, businesses and schools as police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon in response to petrol bombs and rocks.
The run-up to the election was marked by attacks on candidates, with Ho stabbed and wounded and another having part of his ear bitten off.
Sunday was also the seventh day of a standoff at Polytechnic University, whose campus has been surrounded by police as some protesters hid out on the grounds.
"The government needs to know that if they don't answer our demands, we will continue demanding and the protests will not stop," said a 26-year-old pro-democracy voter who gave her name as Cda.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG, China- Flash-mob rallies broke out in Hong Kong on Wednesday as anger mounted over the police shooting of a teenage protester who attacked officers in a dramatic escalation of the violent unrest that has engulfed the territory for months.
A large crowd of demonstrators, including office workers in shirts and suits, mustered in a park and then began marching through the city's commercial district in an unsanctioned rally, chanting anti-police and anti-government slogans.
Hundreds of students also staged a sit-in at the school of 18-year-old Tsang Chi-kin, who was shot in the chest by a police officer as he and a group of masked protesters attacked officers with umbrellas and poles. He survived the shooting.
The international finance hub has been left reeling from the shooting, the first time a demonstrator has been struck with a live round in nearly four months of increasingly violent pro-democracy protests.
Tuesday witnessed the worst clashes of the summer as China celebrated 70 years of Communist Party rule with a massive military parade in Beijing.
The spiraling violence underscored seething public anger against Beijing's rule and shifted the spotlight from China's carefully choreographed birthday party.
Running battles raged for hours across multiple locations as hardcore protesters hurled rocks and petrol bombs. Police responded for the most part with tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannon.
As criticism rose the police launched a spirited defense of their colleague at a press conference on Wednesday saying he feared for his life and the safety of his colleagues.
"He only had one option, that is to fire the gun to immediately resolve the danger," deputy commissioner Mr. Tang Ping-keung told reporters.
But protest groups said the officer charged into the melee with his firearm drawn and failed to fire a warning shot as they condemned the increasing use of live rounds.
"The people of Hong Kong are sick and tired of having mere words of condemnation as their only shields against lethal bullets and rifles," a masked protester said at a press conference near Tsang's school.
RECORD ARRESTS AND TEAR GAS
The shooting was captured on video that quickly went viral.
Opinion towards the shooting has largely cemented along ideological divides with pro-democracy activists condemning the police and establishment figures calling it a justified use of force.
Tsang, who was filmed trying to strike the officer with a pole as he was shot, was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition but authorities said his condition had since improved.
A friend and classmate of Tsang, who gave his first name Marco, said the 18-year-old is a keen basketballer who was infuriated by sliding freedoms in Hong Kong and the police response to the protests.
"If he sees any problems or anything unjust, he would face it bravely, speak up against it, instead of bearing it silently," Marco told AFP.
Police said 30 officers were injured in the National Day clashes, including some who suffered chemical burns from a corrosive liquid that was thrown at them by protesters. The liquid also wounded some journalists.
Hospital authorities said more than 70 people were admitted on Tuesday.
Outlining the sheer extent of Tuesday's clashes, police revealed that they arrested 269 people, ranging from 12 to 71 years old -- the largest daily toll since protests began.
They also unleashed a record 1,400 rounds of tear gas, 900 rubber bullets, 230 sponge rounds, 190 bean bag rounds and five live rounds as warning shots.
To compare, police fired 1,000 tear gas canisters in the first two months of the protests.
Hong Kong's courts are rapidly filling up.
On Wednesday, 96 protesters arrested on Sunday appeared in court charged with rioting.
Ages ranged from 14 to 39 and while the majority were students in their twenties, other occupations listed included a waitress, a teacher, a doctor, an advertising executive, and a cook.
The protests were ignited by a now-scrapped plan to allow extraditions to the mainland.
But after Beijing and local leaders took a hard line they snowballed into a wider movement calling for democratic freedoms and police accountability.
With Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam seemingly unwilling or unable to find a political solution, police have been left to battle increasingly radicalized protesters.
Sentiment is hardening on all sides.
Protesters and some local residents routinely shout "triads" at officers who often respond by calling demonstrators "cockroaches."
The protest movement's main demands are an independent inquiry into police actions, an amnesty for those arrested and universal suffrage.
But Beijing and Lam have said they are unwilling to meet those demands.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Hong Kong is bracing for more demonstrations this weekend, with protesters threatening to disrupt transport links to the airport, after embattled leader Carrie Lam's withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill failed to appease some activists.
Protesters plan to block traffic to the city's international airport on Saturday, a week after thousands of demonstrators disrupted transport links, sparking some of the worst violence since the unrest escalated 3 months ago.
In an advertisement on Friday in the South China Morning Post newspaper, the Airport Authority of the Asian financial hub urged protesters "not to disrupt the journey of tens of thousands of travelers who use the airport every day".
Other rallies are planned on Friday evening across the city, at sites such as subway stations and near government headquarters.
On Wednesday, Lam announced the withdrawal of the extradition bill, conceding one of the protesters' five key demands, although many said the move was too little, too late.
The bill, which would have allowed people in the former British colony to be sent to mainland China for trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party, triggered mass protests that have since widened into a backlash against the Hong Kong government and its political masters in Beijing.
The massive, and sometimes violent, protests present Chinese President Xi Jinping with his greatest popular challenge since he came to power in 2012.
The turmoil is also pummeling Hong Kong's economy, which faces its first recession in a decade. There is evidence some funds are being moved to rival financial centers, such as Singapore.
On Friday, ratings agency Fitch downgraded Hong Kong's credit rating, citing the continued unrest.
Many protesters remain angry over Lam's refusal to grant an independent inquiry into perceived police brutality against them. Police have fired tear gas and bean bag rounds at protesters, who, in turn, have thrown petrol bombs and bricks at them in running battles.
The protesters' 3 other demands are: retraction of the word "riot" to describe rallies, release of all demonstrators arrested and the right for Hong Kong people to choose their own leaders.
Many residents fear Beijing is eroding the autonomy granted to Hong Kong when it was handed back to China in 1997.
China denies the charge of meddling and says Hong Kong is an internal affair. It has denounced the protests, warning of the damage to the economy and the possible use of force to quell the unrest.
Legislation addressing China's actions in Hong Kong will be among the top priorities pushed by US Senate Democrats when Congress returns to work after a recess next week, their leader said on Thursday.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SAN FRANCISCO, United States—Twitter and Facebook said Monday they had uncovered a campaign by China to use the social media platforms against pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
"We are disclosing a significant state-backed information operation focused on the situation in Hong Kong, specifically the protest movement and their calls for political change," Twitter said in an online post.
Facebook said a tip from Twitter led to the removal of pages, groups and accounts originating in China and involved in "coordinated inauthentic behavior" focusing on Hong Kong.
Twitter said it suspended 936 accounts that originated in China.
The California-based micro-messaging service is blocked in mainland China, so many of the accounts accessed it using "virtual private networks" that give a deceptive picture of the user's location, Twitter said.
"Based on our intensive investigations, we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation," it said.
"We identified large clusters of accounts behaving in a coordinated manner to amplify messages related to the Hong Kong protests."
Facebook removed 7 pages, 3 groups and 5 accounts originating in mainland China deemed to be part of an influence campaign focused on Hong Kong, according to cybersecurity policy head Nathaniel Gleicher.
People running the campaign used "deceptive tactics" including fake accounts to pose as news organizations, spread content and steer people to news sites, Gleicher said.
"They frequently posted about local political news and issues including topics like the ongoing protests in Hong Kong," Gleicher said.
DISTRUST, CONFUSION
"Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to individuals associated with the Chinese government."
About 15,500 accounts followed at least one of the campaign's Facebook pages, according to the social network.
The protest movement in Hong Kong was sparked by widespread opposition to a plan for allowing extraditions to the Chinese mainland, but has since morphed into a broader push for democratic rights.
During weeks of pro-democracy protests that have involved millions of people in Hong Kong, online rumors and conspiracy theories have sowed confusion and deepened distrust.
From 2011 footage of South Korean soldiers misrepresented as an impending Chinese "invasion" to doctored photographs exaggerating the size of rallies, Hong Kong citizens have been bombarded with conflicting claims from both sides of the political divide.
Videos and images of protests or violent incidents, often selectively edited or doctored to support a particular viewpoint, have circulated quickly on social media platforms, but also private chat groups such as Weibo or WhatsApp.
China's state-run media is a driving force behind discrediting pro-democracy events, according to lawyer Rachel Lao, who is a member of a pro-democracy legal group.
"The Chinese Communist Party is skilled at creating confusion among the public in China and shaming any such movements," Lao told AFP.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG—Hong Kong police fired volleys of tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters on Saturday, and demonstrators swiftly gathered elsewhere during another tense and restive weekend.
Weeks of increasingly violent protests have plunged Hong Kong into its most serious political crisis for decades, posing a serious challenge to the central government in Beijing.
On Saturday activists rallied across the city - with thousands thronging the airport arrivals hall for a second day - while elsewhere police displayed a new willingness to quickly and forcibly clear them from the streets.
Tear gas was used with little warning not long after several hundred activists who had marched through Tai Po in the north of the territory had barricaded an intersection in the Tai Wai neighborhood.
They dispersed, as noxious smoke also filled the underground station there, bringing train passengers to tears.
"If the government thinks we'll give up and not come out anymore they're wrong," said student Chris Wong, 20, at Tai Po.
"Carrie Lam is now spreading lies and blaming us for destroying Hong Kong's economy. But she's the one who is destroying Hong Kong," he said. "We'll continue to fight...but we're also going to be smart and wear them down."
Lam, Hong Kong's leader, said on Friday the economy was being undermined by the protests, which began in June.
China, meanwhile, demanded that the city's flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways suspend staff involved in the demonstrations. One of its pilots was arrested last week.
Lam's warning about the economy and China's targeting of a key Hong Kong business mark a toughening stance by authorities as they grapple with the crisis.
'WE ARE VERY ANGRY'
It did not deter thousands of demonstrators.
Leung Wai Man, a housewife in her 60s, said she had been motivated to march in Tai Po because she was angry about what she saw as the violent response by police at some protests.
"We are very angry about the police over arresting our teenagers," she said. She said she was worried about escalating violence, but added that "the protesters were just trying to protect themselves against police violence."
Young people have been at the forefront of the protests, worried about the erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong by China but also concerned with issues such as wealth disparities in the city. However, older people have also been appearing.
Earlier on Saturday, in two separate protests, small groups of elderly Hong Kongers and families marched near the financial center's business district. Both marches were peaceful.
"There are clashes in the recent protests and many parents are worried," said Fion Yim, 35, representative of the organizing committee for what was billed as the family protest.
"The freedom to protect our children is very important. We hope to provide a safer place for parents and their kids to participate in rallies, and to voice their concerns."
Thousands of activists also filled the airport's arrivals hall for a second day, some sitting and shouting slogans, while others drew protest posters and greeted arriving passengers.
There were no reports of flight disruptions.
The protests began after Hong Kong's government tried introducing an extradition bill that would have allowed defendants to be sent to mainland China for trial.
The bill has been suspended, but protesters have stepped up their demands and are now calling for greater democracy and Lam's resignation.
The protests have been condemned by the central government in Beijing. China has also accused foreign powers of fueling the unrest.
Hong Kong was guaranteed freedoms not granted in mainland China, including an independent judiciary, under a "one country, two systems" formula, when Britain handed it back to China in 1997.
On Friday, the U.S. State department spokeswoman, Morgan Ortagus, said that Chinese media reports about a U.S. diplomat who met with Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders "have gone from irresponsible to dangerous" and must stop.
Ortagus earlier called China a "thuggish regime" for disclosing photographs and personal details of the diplomat.
More protests are planned for Sunday, including one in Sham Shui Po, a working class neighbourhood that has been the scene of violent confrontations between activists and police. The government announced that public buildings there such as pools and libraries would be shut on Sunday afternoon. (Reporting by Julie Zhu, Yoyo Chow, Kevin Liu and Clare Jim and Twinnie Siu; Writing by Philip McClellan and Tom Westbrook; Editing by Joseph Radford, Kim Coghill and Peter Graff)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
