Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday endorsed Hong Kong’s first legislative elections held under new laws ensuring that only “patriots” who have shown loyalty to Beijing could run as candidates.
Sunday’s elections for 90-seat Legislative Council were swept by politicians backed by China’s ruling Communist Party. Just 20 seats were directly elected, and turnout of 30.2% was the lowest since British handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997. All candidates were vetted by a largely pro-Beijing committee before they could be nominated.
