Dramatic Twist to Elections

Ken Chow claims there were threats against him if he campaigned further

There is over a week to go before the Legislative Council elections and things have already gotten bizarre with one candidate running in the highly contested New Territories West abruptly announced he was not running anymore during an election debate on Cable TV last night.

Liberal Party candidate Ken Chow Wing-kan said he feared for the safety of people close to him after he received threats that 20 or 30 people would "pursue" him at an election forum "until he had no mood for such forums anymore".

"As I don't want my loved ones to be in even higher level of trouble or pay any price, I will suspend all campaign activities for getting voters' support," he said reading a statement as part of his opening speech.

Junius Ho says the claims against him are to smear him

He then bowed in front of the camera to apologize to friends and volunteers who supported him.

Later Chow even distributed the voice clip of the threat to the media.

Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, another candidate running in the same geographic constituency, admitted the voice on the clip was one of his volunteers, and immediately claimed he had no knowledge of the apparent threat.

Ho hit back, claiming Chow was trying to smear him, as both seem to be fighting for the same voters. Ho also questioned how Chow managed to get a copy of the clip, that was part of a Whatsapp group chat.

"Where did he get hold of the clip? They were not talking to you. Why are you overreacting like this? You told the media you were scared but you said you would not talk anymore... Isn't he smearing [me]?" asked Ho.

But there's no way to contact Chow to find out more -- he has left Hong Kong and apparently won't be back until after the elections.

Last week E Weekly Magazine reported someone tried to bribe Chow with HK$5 million for him to not stand in the elections but he refused. The amount was double his election spending. Some are speculating the bribe may have come from pro-Beijing supporters.

In his concluding speech at the debate, Chow said, "Death doesn't frighten me. The most horrible thing is that you can't protect those who are important to you.

"I am not afraid of becoming a broken egg, but I fear that those who are close to me will be harmed."

The strange thing is that one you are an approved candidate, you can't just quit. And there was no indication that Chow and his family were in any danger...