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Voters in Hong Kong are heading to the polls to elect new lawmakers under China’s “patriots only” rules, though government efforts to drive turnout have been overshadowed by anger over the city’s handling of a major deadly fire.

Polls opened early on Sunday across the autonomous Chinese city to select 90 legislators, though only 20 of those seats are directly elected.

The election is only the second time since the city overhauled the electoral system to ensure that only those deemed “patriots” can run for office.

Political campaigning for the polls was abruptly paused in late November, after a blaze tore through the housing blocks of Wang Fuk Court in northern Hong Kong, killing at least 159 people.

Al Jazeera’s Laura Westbrook, reporting from Hong Kong, said “there had been some questions” whether the voting should go ahead in light of the tragedy, believed to be the world’s deadliest residential building fire since 1980.

“But Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, said the vote should go ahead, as a way to maintain stability, and that he needed the newly elected legislature to help push through reforms as well as ensure the recovery and reconstruction efforts can move ahead quickly,” Westbrook said.

Lee had earlier announced a judge-led “independent committee” to investigate the fire, which devastated seven apartment blocks that were undergoing renovations.

He has also urged the people of Hong Kong to take part in the polls, saying their ballots represented reform and support to the fire victims.

On Sunday, a sombre-looking Lee was seen casting his vote in the city.

As of this week, police have arrested 15 people from various construction companies on suspicion of manslaughter.

Police also reportedly arrested at least three people for sedition for making public criticism of the government in the wake of the fire.

Among those detained was 24-year-old student Miles Kwan, who handed out flyers calling for government accountability. Kwan was later reported to have been released.

Earlier this week, a university in the city also shut operations of its student union after messages were posted on campus expressing condolences and urging justice for the victims of the fire.

Legislative elections in Hong Kong used to entail boisterous clashes between pro-Beijing and pro-democracy camps, with the latter often winning about 60 percent of the popular vote.

But in 2020, Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law after the city was roiled by huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests. The first contest held under the new rules later that year saw a record low turnout of less than 30 percent.

Some pro-democracy lawmakers have been jailed, including as part of a subversion case that concluded last year, while others resigned or fled Hong Kong.

Sunday’s race will once again be devoid of the two largest pro-democracy parties after the Civic Party disbanded in 2023 and the Democratic Party said it is winding down.

Before the fire, authorities had blanketed much of the city in promotional material and extended the operating hours of polling stations.

Japanese Minister of Defence Shinjiro Koizumi has accused Chinese fighter jets of directing their fire-control radar at Japanese aircraft during two separate incidents over international waters near the island of Okinawa.

In a post on X early on Sunday, Koizumi said that Tokyo has lodged a “strong protest” about the two incidents and made “a stern demand for measures to prevent recurrence”.

“The radar illumination… was a dangerous act that exceeded the range necessary for safe aircraft flight,” he added.

There was no immediate comment from China.

A fire-control radar lock is one of the most threatening acts a military aircraft can take, because it signals a potential attack, forcing the targeted aircraft to take evasive action.

The encounters over the islands, which are close to disputed territory claimed by both Japan and China, are the most serious run-ins between the two militaries in years.

They came as relations between the two countries sour over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi declaring in November that Tokyo could respond to Chinese military action against Taiwan if the moves also threatened Japan’s security.

Democratically governed Taiwan is claimed by Beijing and lies just 110km (68.4 miles) from Japan’s westernmost Yonaguni Island.

Japan hosts the biggest overseas concentration of United States military power, including warships, aircraft and troops, with a big chunk of that contingent, including thousands of US Marines, based in Okinawa.

There was no immediate comment from the US on Japan’s claims about China’s radar use.

According to Koizumi, the Chinese J-15 jets involved in the two incidents on Saturday were launched from China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier, which was manoeuvring south of the Okinawan islands along with three missile destroyers.

“It is extremely regrettable that such incidents have occurred,” Koizumi’s statement said.

No damage or injuries were reported from Saturday’s incidents near Okinawa, Koizumi added in his post.

The Reuters news agency, citing sources and intelligence reports, said that China deployed a large number of naval and coastguard ships across East Asian waters on Thursday. The boats at one point numbered more than 100, Reuters reported.

Taiwan’s government described that build-up as posing a threat to the Asia Pacific region. Japan said it was monitoring Chinese activity closely.

Taiwan’s coastguard said on Sunday that it was monitoring drills by three Chinese maritime safety ships on the western side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, but said the situation in the waters surrounding Taiwan was currently “normal”.

Chinese state media said the search-and-rescue drills were in the central waters of the Taiwan Strait, patrolling “high-traffic areas, and areas with frequent accidents”.

Taiwan’s coastguard said China was using “misleading and false wording” about what it was doing, with the aim of harassing Taiwan and carrying out psychological warfare.

The bodies of at least 17 migrants and asylum seekers have been found in a partially deflated boat off the Greek island of Crete, according to the country’s coastguard.

The victims, as well as two survivors, were discovered on Saturday, some 26 nautical miles (48km) southwest of Crete.

A spokeswoman for the Greek coastguard told the AFP news agency that all of the victims were men.

“Two survivors in critical condition have been hospitalised,” the spokeswoman added. “Autopsies have to be carried out as the circumstances of the sinking are not known.”

The Athens News Agency reported that the boat was spotted by a Turkish cargo ship, which alerted the authorities. The Greek coastguard rushed two vessels to the scene, while the European Union’s border agency Frontex sent a boat, an aircraft and a Super Puma helicopter to help in the rescue effort.

The coastguard said that the two survivors had said their vessel had become unstable because of bad weather, and they had no way to cover up, nor to eat or drink anything.

The boat had also been taking on water when it was discovered.

Manolis Frangoulis, the mayor of Cretan port Ierapetra, told reporters that all the victims had been young.

“The vessel the migrants were on was deflated on two sides, which forced the passengers into a reduced space,” he added.

Coroners are looking at the possibility that the migrants died of dehydration, Greek state television channel ERT reported.

Over the last year, migrants and asylum seekers have turned their attention to the Greek island of Crete, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, as a way of reaching EU territory from Libya, in North Africa.

According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, more than 16,770 people seeking asylum in the EU have arrived there since the start of the year.

In July, Greece’s conservative government, led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, suspended asylum hearings for migrants, particularly targeting those arriving on Crete from Libya.