You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Chinese. (August 2025)Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing Chinese Wikipedia article at [[:zh:2020年香港立法會選舉民主派初選]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template{{Translated|zh|2020年香港立法會選舉民主派初選}} to thetalk page. For more guidance, seeWikipedia:Translation.

2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries

11–12 July 2020
26 lists forGeographical Constituencies 5 lists forFunctional Constituencies
Turnout	606,761 (13.62%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Wu Chi-wai Alvin Yeung Ray Chan Party Democratic Civic People Power Popular vote 77,251 73,054 28,081 Percentage 12.78% 12.08% 4.64% Lists won 6 4 2   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Gary Poon Raphael Wong Ng Kin-wai and others Party TMCN LSD TSW Connection Popular vote 35,513 34,962 20,525 Percentage 5.87% 5.78% 3.39% Lists won 1 1 1   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Yam Kai-bong and others Claudia Mo Sze Tak-loy Party Neo Democrats HK First ADPL Popular vote 15,021 9,308 8,776 Percentage 2.48% 1.54% 1.45% Lists won 1 1 1

The2020 Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries were held on 11 and 12 July 2020 for selecting the numbers ofpro-democracy candidates for the subsequentlypostponed 2020 Legislative Council election to maximise the chance for the pro-democrats to achieve a majority in the 70-seatLegislative Council.

With a turnout of more than 600,000, which equals to nearly half of votes received by the pro-democracy camp in the2016 general election, it was the most-participated primary held in the history of Hong Kong, despite the SAR government's threats of the organisers' potential breaching of the newly imposednational security law.

Traditional pro-democrat parties lost ground to thelocalist new faces, with an unofficial six-person alliance led byJoshua Wong andNathan Law of the disbandedDemosistō becoming the biggest winner in the primaries. The candidates they endorsed also emerged as either top or runner-up candidates in their respective constituencies.

55 candidates and participants werearrested under the national security law on 6 January 2021, of which 47 were officially charged with conspiracy to commit subversion.

In 2019 amid the historicanti-extradition protests and the pro-democracy landslide in theDistrict Council elections, legal scholarBenny Tai, one of the initiators of the2014 Occupy protests, put forward a plan for the pro-democrats to win a majority of the seats in the Legislative Council to block the government's bills including the expected legislation of theArticle 23 of the Basic Law which would in turn put pressure on the government to implement thefive key demands of the protest movement. Based on prior experience, where excessive numbers of candidates split the pro-democratic votes in the2016 election, he proposed a primary election within the pro-democracy camp to maximise the chance for the pro-democrats to win more seats by setting a limit on the numbers of candidates and avoid wasting votes.^[1] Then, Benny Tai expects those elected legislative councillors to execute so-called "10 steps to burn with us", veto the Hong Kong SAR government's Budget bill without any reason, making a constitutional crisis and forcing the resignation of the Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive.^[2]

To be eligible for the primaries, each candidate had to obtain at least 100 registered voter nominations and pay a deposit of HK$10,000. The election, organised by Benny Tai and former Legislative Council memberAu Nok-hin,^[3] coordinated byPower for Democracy, was set to take place from 11 to 12 July between 9 am and 9 pm. The voting system was designed by theHong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI), which also conducted polls on the recommended candidates. The surveyed results would be used to consolidate the final list of nominees for each seat in the official election in September. Voters were required to submit proof of residency or electoral register identification, and bring a smartphone to designated polling stations where they would scan the QR code and fill out their personal details to vote.^[4]

A total of 52 nomination lists were received during the nomination period for all fivegeographical constituencies, the five-seatDistrict Council (Second) andHealth Services functional constituency. Most potential candidates pledged their willingness to coordinate with organisers, except for political partyCivic Passion andNew Territories East candidate Law Ting-fai who declined to join the primaries.^[4]

TheKwai Chung-based small political groupNeighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre (NWSC) which held one seat in the legislature also declared they would not follow the agreement in which a losing candidate in the primaries would not participate in the general election. Instead, the NWSC suggested it may drop out in the latter stage if the poll numbers suggested the candidate had no chance of winning. There was a backlash among the pro-democrats towards the NWSC, which was accused of undermining the mechanism of the primaries. The NWSC later withdrew their candidacy altogether and stated that they would not field any candidate in the general election.^[5]

On 30 June, theNational People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) approved the final draft of thenational security legislation for Hong Kong. Hours after the approval, leading members of pro-democracy groupDemosistōJoshua Wong,Nathan Law,Agnes Chow and Jeffrey Ngo announced their departure from the party. Demosistō members had been repeatedly barred from standing for election with authorities citing their previous stance on "self-determination" for the city, of which Wong and Law were also running in the upcoming primaries as Demosistō members. Subsequently, Demosistō declared that it would disband after the mass resignations on the same day.^[6] Few days after, Nathan Law said he had fled Hong Kong in response to the security law.^[7] He later dropped out from the primaries and endorsedTiffany Yuen.^[8]

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland AffairsErick Tsang warned that the primaries might violate the new Beijing-imposed national security law. Tsang said one of the objectives of the primaries was to win a majority of seats in the legislature and subsequently vote against the budget. He added this could contravene clauses in the new law prohibiting secession, subversion and collusion with foreign powers. Benny Tai refuted the claim by saying such advocacy work was in accordance with the principles of theBasic Law. He added that vetoing the budget would not constitute "seriously interfering in, disrupting, or undermining the performance of duties and functions" of the government under Article 22 of the new law because the chief executive has the power to dismiss the legislature and call a by-election.^[9]

On 10 July one day before the primaries, theHousing Authority sent out a mass letter saying allDistrict Councillors were barred from using their offices as polling stations or for any purposes other than related to district council activities. It warned that action might be taken against the District Councillors who were found to have violated terms in their rental contracts. A pro-democracy ice cream shop also had to scrap the plan to become a polling station after the property managers warned their participation could violate the tenancy agreement.^[10] At night,Hong Kong Police raided the Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) office inWong Chuk Hang, accusing the organisation of dishonest use of a computer. Au Nok-hin said the police move was to suppress the weekend voting and cast a "deterrent effect" on organisers and supporters.^[11]

Over 590,000 electronic ballots and more than 20,000 paper ballots were recorded throughout the two-day vote, more than 13 per cent of the total number of registered voters and far exceeding the organisers' expected turnout of 170,000. Despite the national security law and legal threats, "Hong Kong people have made history again – another miracle happened in Hong Kong," Benny Tai said. "Hong Kong people – after all these years, since 2003 – have demonstrated to the world, and also to the authorities, that we have not given up to strive for democracy."^[12]

Traditional parties lost ground in most of the direct constituencies to the localist new faces, withDemocratic Party incumbent legislatorHelena Wong only coming seventh in herKowloon West constituency.^[13] Former legislator "Long Hair"Leung Kwok-hung of the League of Social Democrats managed only ninth place in New Territories East for which only the top seven candidates would run in the general election.^[13]Joseph Lee, incumbent legislator of the Health Services constituency lost toWinnie Yu of the labour union Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, which had launched a labour strike during the anti-extradition bill protests. Candidates from numerous small parties were wiped out, includingCarol Ng from theLabour Party, who lost inNew Territories West.^[13]

Localist candidates emerged as the new force in the primaries, with an unofficial six-person alliance led by former Demosistō secretary-general Joshua Wong, incumbent legislatorEddie Chu and endorsed by withdrawn candidate Nathan Law, all became either the top or runner-up candidate in their respective constituencies. Wong himself was the top candidate inKowloon East, while Eddie Chu and former journalistGwyneth Ho came first in New Territories West and New Territories East respectively.^[13] Tiffany Yuen who was endorsed by Nathan Law and activistSunny Cheung also came in second inHong Kong Island and Kowloon West respectively, while activistLester Shum came in second in the District Council (Second) and Winnie Yu won the Health Services functional constituency.

Chief ExecutiveCarrie Lam issued a strong warning to the candidates and organisers of the primaries, saying it was subversive for them to vow to seize control of the legislature and vote down key government proposals. "If this so-called primary election's purpose is to achieve the ultimate goal of delivering what they called '35+' [lawmakers], with the objective of objecting or resisting every policy initiative of the HKSAR government, it may fall into the category of subverting the state power – one of the four types of offences under the national security law," she said.^[13]

A spokesman forBeijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong condemned the opposition camp for ignoring the Hong Kong government's warning of possible legal breaches and pressing ahead with the primary. "It is a serious provocation to the current election system, seriously damages the fairness and impartiality of the Legislative Council election, and seriously harms to the legal rights and interests of other candidates," the office wrote.^[14] It named Benny Tai as a suspect in a possible breach of the national security law by coordinating with the opposition camp to seek control of the legislature, vote down the budget, paralyse the government and subvert the state power. It also accused Tai and the opposition of aiming to take over the city's governance by staging the Hong Kong version of a "colour revolution".^[13] TheHong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) also accused organiser Benny Tai of "illegally manipulating" the Hong Kong's electoral system, challenging the new national security law and acting as a political agent for foreign forces.^[15]

Benny Tai defended that the candidates were not seeking to undermine the performance of duties and functions by the body of power of the central government or of Hong Kong, referring to their agreement that pro-democrats should veto the budget if they were voted into the legislature. "Legco's power of vetoing the budget is stated in the Basic Law," he said. "How can a power that is recognised by the Basic Law be breaching the national security law?"^[13] Amid the threats from the Beijing authorities, Au Nok-hin announced on 15 July that he would step down as the organiser of the primaries.^[16]

U.S. Secretary of StateMike Pompeo congratulated the success of the primaries and said the United States was gravely concerned over Carrie Lam's warning that the primaries might have violated the new national security law. In a statement, Pompeo said Washington would be watching developments in Hong Kong closely and urged the Legislative Council general election in September to be "equally free and fair".^[17][18]

53 pro-democracy activists were arrested on the morning of 6 January 2021 under the newnational security law over their organisation and participation in the primaries including six organizers and 47 participants. The police also searched 72 places including home of jailed activistJoshua Wong, the offices of news outletsApple Daily,Stand News and InMedia HK and froze more than $200,000 in funds related to the effort.^[19] Maya Wang ofHuman Rights Watch issued a statement condemning the arrests: "The Chinese government has decided to mark 2021 with sweeping arrests of over 50 prominent pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, removing the remaining veneer of democracy in the city. Beijing once again has failed to learn from its mistakes in Hong Kong: that repression generates resistance, and that millions of Hong Kong people will persist in their struggle for their right to vote and run for office in a democratically elected government."^[20] The arrests also received a round of international criticism.British Foreign SecretaryDominic Raab called "the mass arrest of politicians and activists in Hong Kong is a grievous attack on Hong Kong's rights and freedoms as protected under theJoint Declaration."^[21]

On 28 February 2021, of the 55 pro-democracy figures initially arrested in January, 47 were officially charged with conspiracy to commit subversion under the national security law.^[22][23]

• 2020 Hong Kong Legislative Council candidates' disqualification controversy
• Postponement of the 2020 Hong Kong legislative election

• 2021 Hong Kong legislative election
• July 2020 in China
• Primary elections in Hong Kong

• CS1 Traditional Chinese-language sources (zh-hant)
• Articles with short description
• Short description with empty Wikidata description
• Use Hong Kong English from July 2020
• All Wikipedia articles written in Hong Kong English
• Use dmy dates from July 2020
• Government and politics articles needing translation from Chinese Wikipedia