Top Chinese leaders, including Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, "have been managing their response" to the violent protests in Hong Kong from a villa in Shenzhen instead of using the formal bureaucratic system that's been in place for two decades, Reuters scoops.
Why it matters: Under normal circumstances, Beijing and Hong Kong communicate through the Liaison Office, "housed in a Hong Kong skyscraper stacked with surveillance cameras, ringed by steel barricades," Reuters writes. This change shows the central government isn't happy with how the Liaison Office has been handling the protests.
- "The office has come in for criticism in Hong Kong and China for misjudging the situation in the city. 'The Liaison Office has been mingling with the rich people and mainland elites in the city and isolated itself from the people,' a Chinese official said. 'This needs to be changed.'"
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