Moving swiftly to capitalize politically on the success of China's athletes at the Olympic Games in Beijing, Chinese officials will send most of their country's gold medalists to Hong Kong next week, before legislative elections here on Sept. 7. The athletes' visit was announced by the Hong Kong government on Wednesday, as democracy advocates here were already struggling to hold on to their 26 seats in the 60-member legislature. A resurgent sense of Chinese nationalism has helped pro-Beijing candidates this summer. If pro-democracy politicians fall below 21 seats in the legislature - which pollsters describe as a definite possibility although not the most likely scenario - then Beijing's allies will have an opportunity to reshape the territory's election laws and other legislation in ways that would further cement Beijing's...
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