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Hong Kong conducted District Council elections on 24 November 2019.  These local councils handle quality-of-life issues for their constituents, but the elections were seen as a referendum on the anti-Beijing protests that have rocked Hong Kong for several months.  The election results strongly favored pro-democracy forces.  Of the 452 seats contested, 388 were won by pro-democracy candidates and only 62 went to pro-establishment parties.

The clear message that most Hong Kong citizens supported w

The Hong Kong government’s attempt to enact an extradition agreement with mainland China sparked mass demonstrations in Hong Kong in June 2019.  Protesters took to the streets in record numbers, with as many as two million protesters reported at the peak of the demonstrations.  By 23 June, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive had suspended action on the extradition bill.

The mainland Chinese government’s reaction to these events has been surprisingly weak.  Throughout the month of June, China’s Foreign M