Pro-democracy candidates retain veto in key vote in Hong Kong polls

The candidates, who helped lead massive 2014 pro-democracy street protests, will now seek a vote on changing the way the city is governed by China’s Communist leaders, but they will face resistance from Beijing, which rejects separatism.

Final results showed that overall, pro-democracy candidates won 30 of 70 seats in the Legislative Council, three more than previously, which means they retain the power to block government attempts to enact unpopular or controversial legislation, such as a Beijing-backed revamp of how the city’s top leader is chosen that sparked the 2014 protests.

Record turnout in Sunday’s vote helped sweep the newcomers into office, most notably Nathan Law, a 23-year-old former student protest leader, who garnered the second-highest number of votes in his six-seat Hong Kong Island constituency. Law’s party, Demosisto, founded earlier this year with teen protest leader Joshua Wong, advocates a referendum on “self-determination” on the future status of Hong Kong, which is in the middle of a 50-year transition period to Chinese rule. It shows how Hong Kong people want to change,” Law said.