HKSAR's LegCo election well interprets "patriots administering Hong Kong": HK scholar

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)'s 7th-term LegCo election well interprets the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong", says Chow Pak-Chin, president of think tank Wisdom Hong Kong.

More than 600 polling stations were open across Hong Kong on Sunday for about 4.5 million registered electors to cast their votes.

A total of 153 candidates have been validly nominated for the election. They include elites from the business, academic and professional sectors, as well as representatives of laborers, employees and small- and medium-sized businesses at the grassroots level. There are also experienced veterans in politics as well as young people.

About half of them are first-time candidates for public office. They will compete for 90 seats, and all the seats are contested and no one can be automatically elected, which is unprecedented since the return of Hong Kong to the motherland in 1997.