Hong Kong's last remaining major opposition party took a key step toward disbanding itself on Sunday after a special meeting approved arrangements to do so in the face of pressure from China amid a national security crackdown.
Five senior members of the Democratic Party had earlier said that Chinese officials or middlemen had warned it in recent months to disband or face serious consequences, including possible arrests.
The party, founded three years before Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule from Britain in 1997, has been the Asian financial hub's flagship opposition, uniting democratic forces to push Beijing on democratic reforms, and to uphold freedoms.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.