Hong Kong: The pro-democracy candidates' crushing victory in community-level elections seemed to have rattled Beijing, with the foreign minister asserting China's authority on the territory yet again. The results of Sunday's elections in the semi-autonomous city have sent the Beijing-backed government a clear message of public support for the demands of a protest movement.

In a rout that stunned the semi-autonomous territory, candidates seeking to loosen control by China seized almost 90 per cent of the 452 elected seats in the city's 18 district councils, bodies that have historically been firmly in the grip of a Beijing-aligned establishment, Reuters reported.