Local care teams unaffected by exit of 460 members to run in Hong Kong ‘patriots’ District Council race, official says
Hong Kong Free Press
The withdrawal of around 460 members from the Hong Kong government’s “care teams” to join the upcoming “patriots-only” District Council elections will not affect the teams’ work, an official has said.
Addressing reporters after appearing on a radio show on Sunday, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak said the 400-odd who had pulled out of the local care teams represented less than 10 per cent of the total 5,000 members.
“During the elections, the work of care teams will not stop,” Mak said in Cantonese.
The government announced last year that the city would launch District Services and Community Care Teams to organise organise “caring activities” and promote community building, targeting low-income residents and the elderly. The teams are overseen by the Home Affairs Department.
There are a total of 452 care teams, each one representing one sub-district in Hong Kong’s 18 districts. Each care team consists of eight to 12 members appointed by pro-establishment groups, who were selected by the government to run the teams.
A significant number of care team captains and vice-captains are pro-establishment figures who lost in the District Council elections in 2019, when the pro-democracy camp won a landslide victory. Analysis by HKFP revealed that, in Sha Tin, the district with the most constituencies, 28 of 41 constituencies had care teams with captains or vice-captains who were among the pro-establishment figures defeated at the ballot box four years ago.
In the aftermath of recent extreme weather events, care team members went out to help clear up roadside debris and unclog drains. Photos on social media showed members in Sham Shui Po sweeping leaves as one person held a laminated sign with the name of the sub-district care teams, attracting online comments calling the clean-up operation a publicity stunt.
Mak said last week that around 460 care team members had withdrawn from their duties because they were running in the upcoming “patriots-only” District Council race. Guidelines for care team members state that they must cease participating in any care team-related work, or using related resources, if they stand in an election or support election candidates.
Speaking on Sunday, Mak said: “Over 400 care team members strictly abided by the mechanism and requirements. This proves that they, like us, support the elections.”
She added that it was not the first time members had been interrupted in their duties. During the historic rainstorms in September, members of the care team in Shek O – which was ravaged by landslides and temporarily cut off due to blocked roads – were not able to mobilise.
“Care teams came from other districts to help. The mobilisation of members of care teams, both from a particular district and across districts, is precisely the special characteristic of care teams,” Mak said.
According to HK01, Kwun Tong District saw the most members withdraw from their duties, with 45 suspending their work. Sha Tin saw the second-most withdrawals.
‘Patriots-only’ election
Hong Kong is a month away from its first District Council race since authorities introduced drastic changes to the electoral procedures.
Plans to overhaul the District Council elections were unveiled in May 2023 to ensure only “patriots” were elected, following a pro-democracy landslide at the last polls in 2019. The number of seats chosen democratically by the public was slashed to around 20 per cent, with the rest chosen by the city’s leader, government-appointed committees and officials.
Constituency boundaries were redrawn and each local council will be chaired by a government official, similar to colonial-era arrangements. All candidates will undergo national security vetting to ensure patriotism.
Candidates must also secure nominations from government-appointed committees. Activists from opposition groups, middle-of-the-road parties and some pro-establishment groups have been shut out from the elections because they failed to receive the required nominations.
Chief Executive John Lee, meanwhile, said competition for District Council seats will be “fierce” and that the election hopefuls were proof of “universality and diversity.”
Mak on Sunday did not answer a reporter’s question on whether the vacancies in the care teams would be filled.
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