Hong Kong Executive Director Carrie Lam is delaying the region's legislative elections by a year, citing a resurgence in coronavirus cases.
Critics condemn the decision, seen as the latest in a series of recent moves limiting Hong Kong's limited autonomy. That autonomy was guaranteed for 50 years after the end of British rule and its handover to China in 1997.
Lam, backed by Beijing, invoked emergency powers, a remnant of China's colonial era, to postpone the elections, scheduled for September 6, until September 2021.
It was "the most difficult decision," Lam told reporters on Friday.
"But I must take into account the public safety and health status of all Hong Kong residents," he said, noting that the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Hong Kong has doubled in the past six weeks.
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