Beijing has blasted the Hong Kong democratic camp’s weekend primaries as a “serious provocation” of the current electoral system after organisers revealed the initial results from electronic ballots.
In a statement released on Monday night, China’s liaison office in Hong Kong called the vote to select pro-democracy candidates “illegal” and said it would undermine the fairness of the Legislative Council election in September.

The primaries aim to narrow the final list of pro-democracy candidates to run in the official election. Organisers said they hope to win more than 35 seats to secure a majority in the legislature.
Beijing’s representative pointed the finger at co-organiser and law professor Benny Tai, who helped initiate the 2014 Umbrella Movement. The office said it was “typical” for him to be suspected of “breaking the law,” while claiming “foreign forces” had helped to facilitate the primaries.
“It is a serious provocation to the current election system, seriously damages the fairness and impartiality of the Legislative Council Election, and seriously harms to the legal rights and interests of other candidates,” the office wrote.
On Sunday, co-organising political group Power for Democracy said more than 610,000 people had cast their ballots throughout the two-day vote. Tai hailed the turnout as a “miracle” as Hongkongers participated despite fears over the newly-enacted national security law and Covid-19.

The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau on Monday warned it would follow up on complaints related to the election. It said some claimed the primaries had “interfered” with and “manipulated” September’s ballot, thus “severely jeopardising” the integrity of the electoral process.
The bureau said it had also received complaints about personal data privacy, as well as organisers’ vow to veto the government’s annual budget if they secure a majority in the legislature. It warned such a move could violate the offence of subversion under the Beijing-enforced security law.
“The government is committed to ensuring that public elections are held in an open, fair and honest manner. If anyone is found to have committed acts of deceit or violated any law during the electoral process, the government will handle the case in a serious manner and there shall be no tolerance,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Tai has denied advocating unlawful electoral strategies.

The criticisms came a few hours after organisers revealed the preliminary results of the primary election, after counting 590,000 votes cast via a mobile app. Localist candidates are leading across different constituencies, while some incumbent legislators and long-standing opposition figures trailed behind.
The number of shortlisted candidates for some constituencies has yet to be confirmed as organisers continue to count paper ballots. Based on the different coordination policies, some who failed to meet the vote threshold have announced their withdrawals from the election.
“I have no regrets over the primaries results and will support each shortlisted candidate,” Barrister Lawrence Lau wrote on Facebook. He ranked fifth in the Kowloon West constituency, which will likely send four candidates and their nomination lists only.
Hong Kong Island – click to view
Rank | Candidate | Political affiliation/ public role | Number of electronic ballots received |
1 | Ted Hui | Democratic Party, current lawmaker | 27,357 |
2 | Tiffany Yuen | Southern District Councillor | 19,629 |
3 | Fergus Leung | Central and Western District Councillor | 14,601 |
4 | Tat Cheng | Civic Party, Eastern District Councillor | 10,889 |
5 | Andy Chui | Eastern District Councillor | 7,800 |
6 | Clarisse Yeung | Wan Chai District Council Chairperson | 5,571 |
7 | Michael Pang | Southern District Councillor | 2,841 |
Kowloon West – click to view
Rank | Candidate | Political affiliation/ public role | Number of electronic ballots received |
1 | Jimmy Sham | Social League of Democrats, Sha Tin District Councillor | 24,144 |
2 | Sunny Cheung | / | 16,320 |
3 | Claudia Mo | Hong Kong First, current lawmaker | 8,801 |
4 | Frankie Fung | Peninsular Commons | 7,493 |
5 | Kalvin Ho | Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood, Sham Shui Po District Councillor | 6,933 |
6 | Lawrence Lau | Sham Shui Po District Councillor | 5,967 |
7 | Helena Wong | Democratic Party, current lawmaker | 3,765 |
8 | Nathan Lau | / | 1,358 |
9 | Jeffrey Andrews | / | 1,090 |
Kowloon East – click to view
Rank | Candidate | Political affiliation/ public role | Number of electronic ballots received |
1 | Joshua Wong | / | 30,047 |
2 | Jeremy Tam | Civic Party, current lawmaker | 22,061 |
3 | Kinda Li | Kwun Tong District Councillor | 14,847 |
4 | Tam Tak-chi | People Power, | 10,304 |
5 | Wu Chi-wai | Democratic Party, current lawmaker | 9,432 |
7 | Sze Tak-loy | Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood, Wong Tai Sin District Councillor | 955 |
New Territories West – click to view
Rank | Candidate | Political affiliation/ public role | Number of electronic ballots received |
1 | Eddie Chu | Current lawmaker | 48,479 |
2 | Sam Cheung | Tuen Mun District Councillor | 34,958 |
3 | Wong Ji-yuet | / | 22,337 |
4 | Ng Kin-wai | Yuen Long District Councillor | 20,249 |
5 | Andrew Wan | Democratic Party, current lawmaker | 17,828 |
6 | Kwok Ka-ki | Civic Party, current lawmaker | 12,827 |
7 | Carol Ng | Labour Party | 10,446 |
8 | Roy Tam | Neo Democrats, Tsuen Wan District Councillor | 4,731 |
New Territories East – click to view
Rank | Candidate | Political affiliation/ public role | Number of electronic ballots received |
1 | Gwyneth Ho | / | 26,256 |
2 | Ventus Lau | Hong Kong Civil Assembly Team | 26,216 |
3 | Alvin Yeung | Civic Party, current lawmaker | 24,303 |
4 | Ray Chan | People Power, current lawmaker | 16,566 |
5 | Owen Chow | / | 16,508 |
6 | Lam Cheuk-ting | Democratic Party, current lawmaker | 14,012 |
7 | Gary Fan | Neo Democrats | 9,764 |
8 | Hendrick Lui | / | 9,590 |
9 | Leung Kwok-hung | League of Social Democrats | 8,944 |
10 | Mike Lam | / | 5,239 |
11 | Ricky Or | Community Alliance, Sai Kung District Councillor | 1,436 |
12 | Lee Chi-yung | / | 286 |
District Council (Second) – click to view
Rank | Candidate | Political affiliation/ public role | Number of electronic ballots received |
1 | Roy Kwong | Democratic Party, current lawmaker | 258,575 |
2 | Lester Shum | Tseun Wan District Councillor | 124,659 |
3 | Henry Wong | Yuen Long District Councillor | 70,611 |
4 | James To | Democratic Party, current lawmaker | 45,596 |
5 | Lee Yue-shun | Eastern District Councillor | 10,260 |
Health services sector – click to view
Rank | Candidate | Number of electronic ballots received |
1 | Winnie Yu | 2,165 |
2 | Michael Felix Lau | 457 |
3 | Joseph Lee | 186 |
4 | Yuen Wai-kit | 48 |