Four former Hong Kong lawmakers have been released after spending more than four years in prison for their conviction under a Beijing-imposed law that crushed a once-thriving pro-democracy movement.

Hong Kong's pro-democracy lawmakers have handed in their resignations following a move by the city's government to disqualify four pro-democracy legislators. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)HONG KONG – Pro-democracy legislators in Hong Kong began resigning Thursday to protest the expulsion of four other lawmakers, heightening a conflict with Beijing over the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s future. Its Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office called the mass resignation “an open challenge” to the authority of the central government and the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitution. “We lost our check-and-balance power, and all the constitutional power in Hong Kong rests in the chief executive's hands,” Wu said. The mass departure will leave Hong Kong’s legislature with just 43 legislators, 41 of whom belong to the pro-Beijing bloc.

HONG KONG - A Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker expressed fears Thursday that the situation could worsen after police announced the arrests of more than a dozen people following protests earlier this week. "As you mentioned earlier, some people in the U.K. are making irresponsible remarks on the Hong Kong issue. British government summoned China's Ambassador Liu Xiaoming to a meeting Wednesday with British diplomatic service chief Simon McDonald over "unacceptable and inaccurate" comments relating to Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests. Liu had accused Hunt of interfering in Hong Kong's affairs and supporting "violent lawbreakers." "Young people in Hong Kong, faced with rising social inequalities, lack of housing ... and growing integration between China and Hong Kong, are becoming increasingly hopeless, and are feeling that they increasingly have little to lose," Chan said.