Two pieces from the Washington Post and the New York Times summarize the September “elections” in Hong Kong. The elections since the handover to Chinese control have been closely watched by many foreign democracies and are largely seen as flawed; in this case, as both the Post and Times point out, sixty to sixty-seven percent of voters chose pro-democracy candidates, but the democratic party was able to take only twenty-five of sixty seats in the Hong Kong legislature. Of further concern to democracy advocates, “there are lots of oranges, they are all bad, and we are just choosing the least bad,” John Siu commented in the New York Times. The election has also been closely watched by many in Taiwan, many of whom have obvious fears – made perhaps more real by this most recent example – that Chinese control of their island would result in the destruction of their democratic way of life. Many in Taiwain, Hong Kong, and around the world are waiting anxiously for the Chinese response to the elections. The next few days may well determine “whether [the Chinese will] go for the hearts and minds or for the jugular” in Hong Kong, and democracy advocates worldwide edgily await their decision.