Hong Kong residents turn up for local elections in record numbers
Poll for relatively toothless district councils has become proxy referendum for the city’s future after months of protests
Hong Kong’s residents turned out in record numbers for local elections that have taken on national significance, becoming a proxy referendum on the future of the semi-autonomous city after nearly six consecutive months of protests.
On Sunday, voters were officially choosing new members for their district councils. But for most who voted, the poll was a chance to pass a city-wide verdict on the crisis that has engulfed the international financial hub since June, pitting pro-Beijing authorities against pro-democracy demonstrators.