"Hong Kong's government began a second round of 'public consultations' on political reform on Wednesday even as it signaled its refusal to yield ground to demands for greater democracy. Police, meanwhile, threatened to arrest the leaders of last year's protest movement, sparked by Beijing's plan to vet election candidates in the former British colony. The rallies and occupation-style protest camps marked the most serious challenge to authorities since Hong Kong came under Chinese control in 1997. Hong Kong's government said Beijing's decision on the election process cannot be questioned. It allows universal suffrage but places controls over who can be on the ballot for chief executive in 2017... The start of the consultation process comes a day after the Hong Kong government submitted a report to Beijing laying out the major events during the two-month-long protests and with the government and opposition factions as far apart as ever," writes The Wall Street Journal.  

According to Reuters, "Chinese municipal governments must widen unemployment benefits to residents who are not registered locally, China said on Wednesday, as it dismantles hurdles to urbanization efforts by easing conditions for migrant workers. China's reform-minded leaders have shown greater tolerance for slower economic growth, viewing healthy employment levels as a top policy priority and an important condition for social stability. Chinese leaders have pledged to loosen their grip on residence registration, known as hukou, to try to hasten an urbanization drive. This would help migrant workers, who lack urban hukou, and are cut off, along with their families, from access to education and social welfare outside their home villages." 

Bloomberg reports, "China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, will provide more support to non-governmental organizations that sue polluters. The nation will work to reduce court charges for NGOs in public non-profit environmental litigation, according to a statement on the website of China's Supreme People's Court...The world's second-biggest economy has struggled to combat pollution, a byproduct of its rapid growth and an increasing leading cause of social unrest. China's biggest changes to its environmental protection laws in 25 years became effective on Jan. 1. The amended law outlines plans to punish polluters more severely as leaders work to limit contaminated water, air and soil."