Architect of HK's return dies at 88

Hong Kong mourned the loss on Monday of Lu Ping, the central government official who oversaw Hong Kong's return to the motherland.

Lu was director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office between November 1990 and July 1997. The office issued an obituary confirming Lu died on Sunday evening in Beijing at the age of 88.

Lu wrote in his biography that he had undergone surgery to treat stomach cancer in May 1995. Hong Kong media, citing sources, reported he died from cancer after spending several months in the hospital.