Pro-democracy protesters hold up their mobile phones during a campaign to kick off the Occupy Central civil disobedience event in front of the financial Central district in Hong Kong August 31, 2014. REUTERS/Bobby Yip
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's parliament has rejected Chinese calls to scrap an inquiry into Hong Kong's progress towards democracy, a senior lawmaker said, warning that reforms there may violate a 1984 deal on the former British colony's sovereignty.
Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997 under an agreement which said it could keep its wide-ranging freedoms and autonomy. But pro-democracy activists say a Chinese decision to tightly curb nominations for a 2017 leadership vote means Hong Kong risks ending up with a "fake" democracy.
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