Pro-democracy activist wins assembly seat in Hong Kong

Anson Chan, a hugely popular former government official, won a seat in Hong Kong’s legislature today, a victory she said was a call for greater political freedoms in the southern Chinese territory.

Chan, 67, dubbed “Hong Kong’s conscience” for her championing of civil liberties, received 175,874 votes, or about 54.6% of the ballots cast in Sunday’s poll, election officials said.

Her closest rival, Regina Ip, who had the backing of Beijing-allied parties but the legacy of an unpopular tenure as security chief, won 42.7% of the votes.

The race was one of the most closely watched and fiercely battled elections since Britain returned the territory to China a decade ago, as both sides tried to turn it into a referendum on the pace of democratic reform.

“The result of this election indicates that Hong Kong people are anxious to put forward democracy. We think we’re all ready to implement universal suffrage in 2012,” the date of the next election for the territory’s leader, Chan said in her victory speech today.

Political analysts, who had said they expected Beijing to keep a close eye on the vote, doubted that the outcome would lead to any real change for Hong Kong.

“Beijing has already made up its mind. . . . It’s unlikely that it will allow universal suffrage in 2012,” said James Sung of the City University of Hong Kong on Sunday.