HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Friday she did not expect pro-democracy protests that have been taking place since June last year to end, even as the central government in Beijing announced plans to introduce national security legislation.
A Chinese proposal to impose national security laws on Hong Kong could see mainland intelligence agencies set up bases there, raising fears of direct law enforcement and what U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called a “death knell” for the city’s autonomy.
(Reporting by James Pomfret and Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Kevin Liffey)