HK bows to pressure on anti-subversion bill

One would have given police sweeping search powers and the other would have allowed the banning of groups in Hong Kong if they were outlawed on the mainland.

"After repeated and detailed discussions, we have decided to make amendments to further allay people's fears," Tung told a news conference, looking weary after days of crisis talks with his cabinet and senior advisers.

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"I hope that after making the changes it will gain the acceptance of legislators."

The government will also strengthen safeguards to freedom of the press. Journalists who disclose Chinese state secrets will be able to defend themselves by saying they are acting in the public interest.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to Hong Kong's streets on Tuesday to denounce the anti-subversion law in the city's biggest demonstration since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Critics of the law fear it will trample basic human rights and that dissent may soon be treated the same way it is in mainland China. The Falun Gong spiritual group, for instance, practices freely in Hong Kong but has been banned in China as an "evil cult."

Many want the bill postponed outright to allow for more public consultation, the most important piece of legislation in Hong Kong since Britain returned it to Chinese rule in 1997.

Several Hong Kong politicians have asked Beijing to step in, stoking fears that the territory's autonomy is under threat.