China's most senior official in Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaoming, said on Friday that remarks he had made to pro-democracy lawmakers in an August 19 meeting had been misrepresented in media reports.
Just days before China was set to deliver its edict on electoral reform in Hong Kong, Beijing’s most senior official in the city held a rare meeting with several local lawmakers whose determined push for full democracy had incensed Beijing's Communist leaders.
A pro-democracy movement that has threatened to blockade Hong Kong's financial district has said Beijing "brutally strangled" its fight for full democracy and vowed to take action.
Hong Kong police used pepper spray to disperse pro-democracy activists on Monday as the Asian financial center braces for a wave of disruptive protests against China's decision to rule out full democracy.
