Agnes Chow says low turnout shows Hong Kongers avoided 'fake election'

HONG KONG -- Agnes Chow, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist who recently fled the territory for Canada, said the huge drop in turnout for the city's district council election this weekend was not simply due to political apathy.

"Hong Kong citizens did not want to participate in a fake election," Chow told Nikkei Asia in an online interview from Toronto on Monday. "It is not about people losing interest in politics but about many of them feeling they should not have an interest because there are fears where you could get arrested if you hold an opposing view."