Hong Kong lawmakers reject Beijing poll plan

Legislators in Hong Kong have rejected a controversial Beijing-backed election reform package that sparked mass protests last year. The reforms would have given Hong Kong voters the right to choose their leader for the first time in 2017. But candidates would be vetted by a pro-Beijing committee and pro-democracy activists said the reforms only offered "fake democracy".Beijing said it would not change its position on democratic reforms. Some in Hong Kong had hoped that if the proposals were rejected, China would be forced to offer more far-reaching reforms, according to a news agency.