Hong Kong lawmakers make symbolic bid to impeach city's Beijing-backed leader

HONG KONG – Hong Kong lawmakers are making a symbolic attempt to impeach the southern Chinese city's Beijing-backed leader.

The motion by pro-democracy legislators on Wednesday was unlikely to pass because they don't have a majority. But it's the latest sign of the widening gulf between semiautonomous Hong Kong and its political masters in Beijing.

Members of Hong Kong's Legislative Council were planning to introduce a motion to charge the city's leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, with serious breaches of law that could lead to his impeachment. They allege Leung misled them about illegal renovations to his mansion.

It's the first such attempt to impeach a Hong Kong leader since the former British colony came back under China's control in 1997. Leung survived a no-confidence vote in December.