The 2025 Legislative Council election kicked off on last Friday (24/10) with the beginning of a fortnight-long nomination period – and a stern warning by Beijing against any attempts to interfere with or disrupt the December 7 race.

That could not be more interesting and intriguing in light of the veil of mystery surrounding the unprecedented acts of dozens of incumbent legislators bowing out en masse in the past three weeks when the final curtain of their four-year term was coming down.

The bowing out of Regina Ip

They cited a range of indisputable reasons including age, family, further education and the like. Believe them or not. On some of their faces were a hue of unwillingness, nevertheless. Regina Ip, chairwoman of the New People’s Party, is a telling case.

It was only not long ago that she strongly rejected the idea of setting an age limit of lawmakers when rumours ran wild saying all 12 incumbent legislators who are aged 70 and above would not be given one more chance, or another four years. “(Setting an age limit is) impossible,” she told reporters.

On Saturday, she and her party colleague, Lai Tung-kwok, became the last pair to announce they will not run for the upcoming election, following the footsteps of the other 10 veterans.

Regina Ip said that “nobody has asked me to retire because of age.” “After 17 years in the legislature, I think it is time for me to pass the torch to young people,” she said.

There was no indication whatsoever of her, 75, preparing to pass the torch even after President Andrew Leung took the lead to bow out at the end of last month. It is widely believed that she had hoped to serve one more term before bidding farewell to the legislative work and, perhaps more importantly, for more time for a succession plan.

Warning from HKMAO

The focus of the upcoming election will be shifting to the contestants from the “leavers”, leaving behind an air of secrecy about the political manoeuvrings behind the scenes, if any.

Admittedly, none of those 20-odd incumbent legislators who announced that they will not seek re-election have said they have been told to do so.

Ordinary people can be excused for a feeling of bewilderment about the wave of announcements by incumbent legislators and be pardoned for believing that some mysterious forces were making the waves from behind.

That may never be proven in one way or another.

Without specifying what they were referred to, an article published on the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office has denied that Beijing had interfered with the election and that it had a list of “endorsed candidates.”

The article said those were “false claims” being made recently aiming at disrupting the election. Warning that anti-China forces both in and outside Hong Kong have never stopped disrupting and destroying elections in the city, it called for vigilance against any attempts to jeopardise the coming Legco election. Local law enforcement agencies, the article warned, will not “sit back and do nothing”.

Disparaging the performance of lawmakers and calls for a boycott of the race also amount to disruptive comments, which ultimately aim at mounting a challenge to the authority of Beijing and the Hong Kong government, the article said.

Like the wave of “leavers”, the stern warning of the HKMAO issued as the race began is equally intriguing.

Put high stakes in the upcoming Legco election

Sharp criticism against the Legco electoral methods has markedly waned four years after they were passed into law, followed by the holding of the first election in late 2021. Calls for a boycott of coming elections that are punishable under existing laws have been unheard of as of today.

Regardless of the purposes of the HKMAO’s strongly-worded article, it is crystal clear that both Beijing and the Hong Kong government have put high stakes in the upcoming Legco election.

Both the HKMAO article and the remarks made by Chief Executive John Lee at an election kick-off ceremony on Thursday have emphasised the importance of the new Legco at a time when the city enters a critical time advancing “from stability to prosperity.”

The central and Hong Kong authorities are hoping that the new Legco will coordinate better, or perhaps cooperate more closely with the government in the next four years for it to enhance governance.

Under the executive-led system, how the legislature with the addition of dozens of new faces could help revitalise the economy and improve livelihood is unclear.

The tough election-talk is indicative of the prevalence of the security-obsessed mentality in Beijing. Any doubts and dissonance relating to the election will be deemed as politically-motivated with ulterior motives aimed at causing instability and delaying prosperity.

Whether the high stakes put on the December 7 will prompt more people to cast their votes, or do the opposite, is anybody’s guess.

▌ [At Large] About the Author

Chris Yeung is a veteran journalist, a founder and chief writer of the now-disbanded CitizenNews; he now runs a daily news commentary channel on Youtube. He had formerly worked with the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Economic Journal.