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ABSTRACT: The China factor has always been a significant structural, ideological, and organisational factor in Hong Kong elections. Since 2003, the deepening of intervention by Beijing and its Liaison Office in Hong Kong meant that the China factor as an organisational force became increasingly salient in elections. It also drove more people, especially young people, to resist China's control and take the road of supporting independence or self-determination. The 2016 elections showed more ostensible intervention by the Liaison Office, and independence became a new campaign issue. The China factor will continue to be an integral part of Hong Kong elections in years to come.
KEYWORDS: The China factor, Hong Kong independence, Hong Kong politics, Umbrella Movement, Hong Kong identity, Legislative Council elections, Liaison Office.
The partially free elections in Hong Kong have always been conducted in the shadow of the People's Republic of China. Since partial elections were introduced in 1991, the China factor has been shaping the development of Hong Kong elections in three dimensions: as an ideological/identity factor, a power-structural factor, and an organisational resource factor. In recent years, with more intervention from Beijing, the China factor as a powerstructural and organisational factor has become increasingly salient in Hong Kong elections, in some cases threatening the electoral integrity of the elections. The deepening of intervention by China in turn has driven more Hong Kong people to support self-determination or independence in recent years, meaning that ideologically the China factor took on a totally different dimension in the 2016 Legislative Council elections.
This paper traces how the impact of the China factor on Hong Kong's elections changed from 1991 to 2016. The China factor as an ideological or identity factor has always shaped the major political divide in Hong Kong elections. As a power-structural factor, China as the sovereign master served to define the rules of the game in Hong Kong, to help pro-Beijing forces maintain a legislative majority and to marginalise the democrats in a bid to maintain the hybrid nature of the regime. The huge presence of Chinafunded organisations and groups in Hong Kong gives the pro-Beijing camp an immense resource edge over the pro-democracy opposition. The greatest danger to Hong Kong's autonomy is not only increasingly strong intervention from China,...