Hong Kong formally scraps extradition bill

The bill - which would have allowed for criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China - prompted outrage when it was introduced in April, reported BBC.

The bill was earlier suspended amid protests that paralyzed the city for the past several months.

Following weeks of violent protests in the city, the Chinese government is planning to replace Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, media reports said.

The government is planning to replace her with an “interim” chief executive.

People briefed on the deliberations told Financial Times that if Xi Jinping, China’s president, decided to go ahead, Lam’s successor would be installed by March and cover the remainder of her term, which ends in 2022. They would not necessarily stay on for a full five-year term afterwards.

Leading candidates to succeed Lam include Norman Chan, former head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and Henry Tang, son of a textile magnate who has also served as the territory’s financial secretary and chief secretary for administration, the people told the newspaper.

The protests are a big challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping who assumed power seven years ago.

The protesters say they are fighting to preserve the “one country, two systems” arrangement and a promise of freedom under which Hong Kong was returned to China as a specially administered region by the British in 1997.