HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s citizens were voting on Sunday in an election where the focus is on turnout, with residents grieving and traumatized after the city’s worst fire in nearly 80 years and the authorities scrambling to avoid a broader public backlash.

Security was tight in the northern district of Tai Po, close to the border with mainland China, where the fire engulfed seven towers. The city is holding elections for the Legislative Council, in which only candidates vetted as “patriots” by the China-backed Hong Kong government may run.

Residents are angry over the blaze that killed at least 159 people and took nearly two days to extinguish after it broke out on Nov. 26. The authorities say substandard building materials used in renovating a high-rise housing estate were responsible for fueling the fire.

Eager to contain the public dismay, authorities have launched criminal and corruption investigations into the blaze, and roughly 100 police patrolled the area around Wang Fuk Court, the site of the fire, early on Sunday.

‘NOT A HEALTHY SYSTEM NOW’
A resident in his late 70s named Cheng, who lives near the charred buildings, said he would not vote.

“I’m very upset by the great fire,” he said during a morning walk. “This is a result of a flawed government… There is not a healthy system now and I won’t vote to support those pro-establishment politicians who failed us.”

Mr. Cheng declined to give his full name, saying he feared authorities would target those who criticize the government.

At a memorial site near the burned-out residential development, a sign said authorities plan to clear the area after the election concludes close to midnight, suggesting government anxiety over public anger.

Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong has said it would crack down on any “anti-China” protest in the wake of the fire and warned against using the disaster to “disrupt Hong Kong.”

China’s national security office in Hong Kong warned senior editors with a number of foreign media outlets at a meeting in the city on Saturday not to spread “false information” or “smear” government efforts to deal with the fire.

The blaze is a major test of Beijing’s grip on the former British colony, which it has transformed under a national security law after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.

An election overhaul in 2021 also mandated that only pro-Beijing “patriots” could run for the global financial hub’s 90-seat legislature and, analysts say, further reduced the space for meaningful democratic participation.

‘ABSOLUTELY NEED ALL VOTERS TO COME OUT’
Publicly inciting a vote boycott was criminalized as part of the sweeping changes that effectively squeezed out pro-democracy voices in Hong Kong. Pro-democracy voters, who traditionally made up about 60% of Hong Kong’s electorate, have since shunned elections.

The number of registered voters for Sunday’s polls — 4.13 million — has dropped for the fourth consecutive year since 2021, when a peak of 4.47 million people were registered.

Seven people had been arrested as of Thursday for inciting others not to vote, the city’s anti-corruption body said.

Hong Kong and Chinese officials have stepped up calls for people to vote.

“We absolutely need all voters to come out and vote today, because every vote represents our push for reform, our protection of the victims of (fire) disaster, and a representation of our will to unite and move forward together,” Hong Kong leader John Lee said after casting his vote.

Hong Kong’s national security office urged residents on Thursday to “actively participate in voting,” saying it was critical in supporting reconstruction efforts by the government after the fire.

“Every voter is a stakeholder in the homeland of Hong Kong,” the office said in a statement. “If you truly love Hong Kong, you will vote sincerely.”

The last Legislative Council elections in 2021 recorded the lowest voter turnout — 30.2% — since Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997. — Reuters

TOKYO — Chinese fighter jets directed fire-control radar at Japanese military aircraft near Japan’s Okinawa islands in two incidents, Japan’s defense minister said on Sunday, condemning the move as “dangerous.”

“These radar illuminations went beyond what is necessary for the safe flight of aircraft,” Shinjiro Koizumi posted on X, adding that Japan had lodged a protest with China over Saturday’s “regrettable” incident.

Meeting with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles in Tokyo, Mr. Koizumi said Japan would respond “resolutely and calmly” to China’s conduct to maintain regional peace and stability.

A fire-control radar lock is one of the most threatening acts a military aircraft can take because it signals a potential attack, forcing the targeted aircraft to take evasive action.

JAPAN-CHINA RELATIONS HAVE SOURED, TENSIONS OVER TAIWAN
The encounters near islands close to territory claimed by both Japan and China are the most serious run-ins between the two militaries in years and are likely to further escalate tension between the neighbors.

Relations have already soured after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned that Japan could respond to any Chinese military action against Taiwan if it also threatened Japan’s security.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan and has ramped up military and political pressure against the island, whose government rejects Beijing’s territorial claims. Taiwan lies just 110 kilometers (70 miles) from Japan’s westernmost island, Yonaguni.

Calls to China’s defense ministry on Sunday were not answered.

Japan hosts the biggest overseas concentration of US military power, including warships, aircraft and troops, with much of that contingent, including thousands of US Marines, based in Okinawa.

The US State Department and the US Embassy in Tokyo did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Japan’s claims about China’s use of radar.

Japan said the Chinese J-15 jets involved in the two incidents were launched from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier, which was maneuvering south of the Okinawan islands with three missile destroyers.

In 2013, Japan said a Chinese warship locked its radar on one of its destroyers in the East China Sea. Three years later Beijing accused Japanese jets of directing their fire-control radar on Chinese fighters.

In June, Japan said Chinese jets flew dangerously close to one of its patrol aircraft near Okinawa.

CHINESE NAVAL ACTIVITIES
On Thursday, China was deploying a large number of naval and coast guard ships across East Asian waters, which at one point numbered more than 100, Reuters reported, citing sources and intelligence reports.

Taiwan’s government described that buildup as posing a threat to the Indo-Pacific region. Japan said it was monitoring Chinese activity closely.

On Sunday, Taiwan’s coast guard said it was monitoring drills by three Chinese maritime safety ships on the western side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line but said the situation in the waters surrounding Taiwan was currently “normal.”

Chinese state media said the search-and-rescue drills were in the central waters of the strait, patrolling “high-traffic areas, and areas with frequent accidents.”

Taiwan’s coast guard said China was using “misleading and false wording” about what it was doing, with the aim of harassing Taiwan and carrying out psychological warfare.

China says it alone exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait, a major trade route for about half of global container ships. The United States and Taiwan say the strait is an international waterway. — Reuters

THE KREMLIN welcomed a move by US President Donald J. Trump’s administration to revise its national security strategy and stop calling Russia a “direct threat,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in remarks published by the TASS news agency on Sunday.

Since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, US strategies have designated Moscow as a major threat. However, the updated US policy, announced on Friday, adopts a softer tone, urging limited cooperation.

In comments to the state-run news agency, Mr. Peskov said the updated strategy dropped wording that described Russia as a direct threat and instead called for cooperation with Moscow on strategic stability issues.

“We considered this a positive step,” he said, adding that Moscow would examine the document closely before drawing broader conclusions. “We certainly need to look at it more closely and analyze it,” Mr. Peskov was quoted as saying.

The new 29-page strategy set out Mr. Trump’s foreign policy vision as one of “flexible realism” and said US policy would be driven above all by “what works for America,” according to the document.

Washington would seek a quick resolution to the conflict in Ukraine and aimed to re-establish “strategic stability” with Moscow, while maintaining that Russia’s actions in Ukraine remained a central security concern, the document said.

The strategy was released amid a stalled US peace initiative, in which Washington presented a proposal that endorsed Russia’s main demands in the nearly four-year-old war.

Mr. Trump has often made positive and admiring comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin, prompting critics to accuse him of being soft on Moscow even as his administration-maintained sanctions over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

European allies, reliant on US military support to deter Russia, have watched the shift closely and voiced concern that softer US language might weaken efforts to confront Moscow as the war in Ukraine continues. — Reuters

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE/BEIJING — Homeowners at the complex destroyed in one of Hong Kong’s deadliest fires were incorrectly told the contractor that authorities blame for the blaze had a clean safety record, documents viewed by Reuters show.

Residents were given the assurances by Will Power Architects, which was retained by their homeowners’ corporation to evaluate bids for a renovation contract, according to a PowerPoint presentation created by the consultant.

In fact, the contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering Co., had been penalized by the city’s safety regulator more than a dozen times in the seven years before it was hired by the corporation to renovate the complex, according to the agency’s records, including for improperly installing scaffolding and faulty electrical connections.

The fines were issued for violations of an industrial-safety ordinance between 2016 and 2019, according to Labour Department records. Offences under the code are typically prosecuted in a magistrate’s court.

This account of how Prestige won a HK$330 million ($42.4 million) renovation contract on Will Power’s recommendation, as well as the cascade of concerns about spiraling costs and fire hazards that followed, is based on interviews with two dozen people and a review of construction and regulatory records. Residents, including some with experience in construction, repeatedly complained about workers smoking on-site and Prestige’s use of flammable material in places like the scaffolding. They also made an aborted effort to revoke the firm’s contract.

Reuters could not determine why Will Power wrote in the undated presentation created for the homeowners’ corporation that Prestige had “no record of being prosecuted by the Labour Department.” The news agency also could not establish whether the contractor disclosed the violations to Will Power or if it contested the penalties, though the records are only published online after any appeal has been exhausted.

Will Power and Prestige did not respond to calls and letters left at their shuttered offices seeking comment. Reuters could not establish if the firms had retained lawyers or ascertain their response to the investigations as no legal filings have been made.

Consultants are responsible for reviewing contractors’ bids, while contractors are required to not misrepresent or omit their safety record if asked, two construction industry experts told Reuters.

The work of the two firms is now subject to manslaughter and corruption investigations after the Nov. 26 blaze at Wang Fuk Court, which has claimed at least 159 lives and is the city’s deadliest since 1948. Authorities say parts of the mesh used by Prestige on the building scaffolding to catch debris did not meet fire-safety standards and foam boards used to protect windows during renovation were highly flammable. The Labour Department acknowledges that it told residents who had raised concerns before the blaze that the mesh was certified as safe. Hong Kong’s deputy leader told reporters on Monday that contractors attempted to “fool” inspectors by mixing substandard material with high-quality mesh.

At least three people in charge of Prestige and four people from Will Power have been arrested in the investigations. Authorities have made more arrests as part of the probes, though the total number of people in custody is unclear and no charges have been announced. Law enforcement has not named the arrested people, as is customary in Hong Kong.

Wang Fuk Court consisted of eight government-subsidized housing towers built near a pier and industrial estate in northern Hong Kong. Its roughly 2,000 units – none larger than 500 square feet (46.45 square meters) – were owned by many blue-collar workers and senior citizens.

Hong Kong Police and the Labour Department, which enforces safety standards at industrial sites, did not respond to questions about their investigations and Prestige’s safety record. The labour agency told Reuters last week that it had informed homeowners last year that they faced “relatively low fire risks” after receiving repeated complaints about fire hazards, including the renovation mesh. However, it said that this did not mean the agency had ignored the risks, stressing that it had reminded Prestige to implement fire-prevention measures.

The Buildings Department, which sets guidelines on construction materials but is separate from the labour agency, referred Reuters to two documents it had sent to construction firms in October and November. The notices urged them to “take prompt action” in ensuring that construction materials like the mesh netting met fire-safety standards, but did not specifically reference foam boards.

Messages sent by Reuters to an adviser of the former leadership of the corporation seeking comment went unanswered.

RESIDENTS REVOLT
Hong Kong regulations require buildings that are more than 30 years old to undergo inspections and renovations at least once.

The work at Wang Fuk Court, which was built in the 1980s, entailed refurbishment of the exterior cladding, fixing fire safety features and replacing water pipes.

Prestige was hired after Will Power awarded its bid one of the highest grades among the 57 bids and said it had a spotless safety record.

Labour Department records reviewed by Reuters, however, show that Prestige had been fined a cumulative HK$309,000 ($39,700) for 15 workplace safety violations committed between September 2016 and June 2019. The agency did not respond when asked about Prestige’s record.

Separately, the Buildings Department ordered Prestige and an affiliated person to pay a total of HK$139,000 ($17,850) for “negligence or misconduct” and processing costs related to two projects from 2012 and 2014, records published in the government gazette in 2023 show. The agency also barred Prestige from performing certain projects for four months.

Problems with the renovation started becoming apparent in early 2024, when the approved total cost of the project more than doubled from the roughly HK$150 million ($19.3 million) presented during the bid as the scope of works expanded, according to minutes from a January 28 homeowners’ corporation meeting.

In Hong Kong, such corporations represent the owners of apartment units in overseeing the management and maintenance of an estate.

The next month, a resident submitted to the corporation’s management signatures of a number of homeowners, hoping to trigger a special meeting to replace the long-serving leadership and revoke Prestige’s contract.

Homeowners wanted to replace the leadership primarily due to concerns over how quickly Prestige wanted to be paid, the current head of the supervisory body of residents told Reuters. Meeting minutes also show residents repeatedly complained about “sky-high” costs and not being thoroughly consulted on the scope of works.

But the prior homeowners’ board questioned the validity of the signatures and warned that a “special meeting wastes time and money and damages relationships,” according to announcements published on the complex’s website.

The meeting was finally convened during a typhoon on Sept. 6, 2024, seven months after the first request. More than 1,200 people braved the weather to attend the gathering that stretched until 11 p.m.

By the end of the evening, new leadership of the homeowners’ board had been installed.

FIRE HAZARDS
The new board ultimately did not revoke Prestige’s contract after being told by a lawyer the move would leave all owners legally liable, the minutes show, without specifying the risks.

The lawyer, Walter Tsui of WT Law Offices, confirmed he informed the owners of their potential liability but said he did not remember specifics. He told Reuters he was invited to the meeting by the new board and wasn’t representing any party: “I only gave my opinion when residents asked me about it.”

The new board immediately launched a review of the renovation project that included looking into fire-safety risks. It also mobilised volunteer teams of residents with experience in construction to help oversee the site, while collecting photographic evidence of possible breaches, videos posted to the corporation’s website show.

“Will there be any corner-cutting? Any violations of safety guidelines? Any lack of follow-up? Don’t worry – our supervisory taskforce will keep a close watch,” the homeowners’ corporation said in a video on the complex’s website.

Despite the new team’s efforts, which included a September 2024 meeting with Prestige at which it was asked to explain the safety of some of its materials, some residents still felt they had to take matters into their own hands.

Retired electrician and plumber Wong, the subject of a widely circulated Reuters photograph that showed him in despair as Wang Fuk Court burned behind him with his wife trapped inside, ripped out foam boards covering his windows and replaced them with fire-retardant plastic film, his son told Reuters.

Wong also regularly sprayed water onto the mesh outside his flat to keep it moist, said his son, J Wong, who like his father declined to give his full name.

“Despite knowing the risks, no matter what he did, he couldn’t change what happened,” J Wong said. — Reuters