Hong Kong scraps 24-hour BBC World Service radio channel despite criticism

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past the television house of Radio Television Hong Kong in Hong Kong January 28, 2007. REUTERS/Paul Yeung/File Photo

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's public broadcaster RTHK dropped a 24-hour BBC World Service channel from its airwaves on Monday, replacing it with state radio from China in what critics say is a sign of encroaching Chinese control in the former British colony.

Tensions between Hong Kong and Beijing's ruling Communist Party leaders have grown in recent years, particularly over the "Occupy" civil disobedience movement in 2014 when tens of thousands of protesters blocked roads for 79 days demanding full democracy.