Hong Kong’s leader has said foreign forces are at work in the pro-democracy movement that has paralyzed parts of the city

Hong Kong's leader has said foreign forces are at work in the pro-democracy movement that has paralyzed parts of the city.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said in a television interview on October 19 that "external forces" from other countries had been encouraging the mass sit-ins that have blocked major thoroughfares for three weeks, but refused to identify them.

Leung spoke as protest leaders blasted Hong Kong's police force over violent clashes that broke out in the Mongkok district October 19, with 20 people injured as officers struck surging crowds with batons.
 
Chinese state media have said that "anti-China forces" such as the United States are manipulating the protesters.

A former British colony, Hong Kong was handed back to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" deal that guarantees freedoms not seen on the mainland.