Hong Kong's legislature suspended meetings Thursday as leaders considered their next steps following violent clashes between police and protesters opposed to a bill that would allow suspects to be tried in mainland Chinese courts.

Opponents of legislation in Hong Kong that would allow criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China are planning more protests and labor strikes in an attempt to block the move, which they say endangers the territory's judicial independence and Western-style freedoms.

Thirty years since the Tiananmen Square protests, China's economy has catapulted up the world rankings, yet political repression is harsher than ever.

The agreement is a step toward addressing the long-cherished hope of bringing together China's 12 million Catholics who are divided between those worshipping in state-sanctioned churches and the underground priests and parishioners loyal to the pope.

China's government is ratcheting up a crackdown on Christian congregations in Beijing and several provinces, destroying crosses, burning bibles, shutting churches and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith, according to pastors and a group that monitors religion in China.

The ruling Communist Party is again telling members that atheism remains a core value, not to be transgressed.