22 arrested over Hong Kong 'vote rigging'

Six people appeared in court on Monday charged with vote rigging in relation to Hong Kong district elections in which pro-Beijing candidates performed strongly. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said the suspects were among 22 arrested Sunday on suspicion of lying to electoral officials about their residential addresses ahead of last month's vote. The vote rigging allegedly took place in the King's Park constituency of Yau Tsim Mong District. The case is the first to go to court but the government says it is investigating a number of similar irregularities. The ICAC alleges the six defendants gave "false information to electoral officers that a flat of a building in Yin Chong Street, Mongkok, as recorded in the final register, was their present residential address". About 1.2 million voters cast their ballots, representing turnout of around 41.4 percent and a participation record for the autonomous Chinese territory since its handover from British rule in 1997. Pro-Beijing party the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong secured 136 of a total of 412 district seats, compared with only 47 for the Democratic Party, leading the pro-democracy camp. The Federation of Trade Unions, another supporter of Beijing's strong influence in Hong Kong's affairs, took 29 seats after fielding only 48 candidates. Democratic Party vice chairman Sin Chung-kai described the results as a "warning to the pro-democracy camp, especially the Democratic Party". Political analysts have asked how the Registration and Electoral Office failed to notice suspicious cases, such as voters listing the upmarket Four Seasons hotel as their residential address. "These vote-rigging allegations have made many question the results and suspect that they were manipulated," political columnist and Beijing critic Albert Cheng King-hon wrote last week in the South China Morning Post. The six defendants were released on bail and asked to return to court in February.