Hong Kong leader: Controversial extradition bill is 'dead'

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday declared that the extradition bill that sparked several protests is "dead."

Lam did not say she was officially withdrawing the bill, and now there are questions as to whether it will be reintroduced sometime in the future, CNBC reports. Under the bill, people arrested in Hong Kong would face the possibility of being extradited to mainland China. Since British rule ended and Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, there has been a "one country, two systems" policy, with Hong Kong having its own justice system and China's courts ruled by the Communist Party.

Protesters said they were concerned by the creeping influence of Beijing, and took to the streets for several protests. Last week, a group of demonstrators entered the Legislative Council building and had control of it for several hours, destroying paintings and smashing glass doors. Lam said the government plans on prosecuting protesters who broke the law during the demonstrations, and she asked that "in the future, if anyone in Hong Kong has any different views — especially those about the Hong Kong government's policies — please continue to uphold the value of expressing it in a peaceful and orderly manner."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.