Hong Kong leader says reshuffle aimed at economic recovery after coronavirus

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Wednesday the replacement of several ministers was aimed at reviving the coronavirus-hit economy and was unrelated to recent remarks by institutions in mainland China reaffirming Beijing's authority over the city.

China's state council approved a Hong Kong government shake-up earlier on Wednesday.

Ratcheting up tensions in the past week, Beijing's top representative office in the city enraged democrats when it said it was not bound by a law that restricts interference by other mainland Chinese agencies in the former British colony.