Landslide democratic win is adding pressure on Hong Kong's leader

The likelihood of Beijing offering any new concessions in the short term remains slim, observers say, given the tough line taken so far.

After months of sometimes-violent unrest in Hong Kong, an election with record turnout handed a big victory to pro-democracy local district council candidates, posing a new conundrum for Beijing and adding pressure on the city’s leader.

In the run-up to the citywide elections on Sunday, extreme clashes had broken out between riot police and anti-government protesters. The standoffs were stoked in part by the death of a protester after a fall, and the shooting of another by a policeman at point-blank range. Yet on Sunday, amid a rare lull, nearly three million people - about three-quarters of eligible voters - queued