Pro-Beijing Pols Win Hong Kong Vote

After harshly criticizing the political system as an unfair setup giving ordinary people too little say, Hong Kong's opposition leader admitted Monday he needs a better way to sell citizens on the idea of full democracy.

As expected, pro-Beijing and big business candidates will dominate the Legislative Council chosen on Sunday.

But Martin Lee, head of the Democratic Party, said he'll have to do more than point fingers at Beijing and the Hong Kong government to push for political reforms in the ex-British colony.

"We have internal problems—the members of our party are not united enough," Lee told reporters. "We will try our best to regain our confidence and walk up the path of democracy once again."

The Democrats took 12 of the 60 seats in the Legislative Council, known as Legco. They and staunch pro-democracy allies will get a total of 19 of the seats, slightly less than they had hoped.

The pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong ended up with 10 seats, as it managed to limit the damage from a major scandal that forced the resignation of its vice chairman.

Gary Cheng gave up his party post following allegations he leaked secret government documents to a client of his public relations firm, but he stayed on the ballot and won, much to the dismay of many critics.

"Shameless legislator, resign now," demonstrators chanted as Cheng was declared a winner.

Cheng was a no-show early Monday at a vote-counting center where other candidates watched the numbers roll in from Hong Kong's second legislative election since it reverted to Chinese sovereignty three years ago.

"He needs a rest," said successful ticket mate Choy So-yuk.

Lawyer Paul Tse, who failed in the election after gaining notoriety for campaigning in a pink Superman suit, was far harsher.

"I am disappointed to have a person with such a negative image being elected," Tse said.

Party officials say they are investigating the irregularities in Cheng's public relations firm—but they defended their decision not to ask him to step down. When Cheng quit the party post he was already on the ballot atop a slate of DAB candidates and it was not possible to remove him.

"Cheng should be able to learn from his own experience and he should be able to serve the public," said Jasper Tsang, another successful Democratic Alliance candidate.

By MARGARET WONG