Former DFAT Australia-China Council scholar Andrew Phelan says Hong Kong is a shadow of what it once was.
Hong Kong’s election has been condemned by Five Eyes as devoid of any “meaningful political opposition” in the wake of China’s “overhaul” of the city’s electoral system.
The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand have issued a joint statement in the wake of Hong Kong’s elections which closed on Sunday with a record low turnout.
Sitting at 30.2 per cent, the outcome was the lowest since Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 and far less than the 43.57 per cent result recorded in 2000.
“Today is kind of like the day the music died,” Mr Phelan told Sky News Australia.
“It’s a very sad occasion, it’s as if the spirit of Hong Kong has been arrested and put in a cage.”