A pro-democracy group that organized some of the biggest protests during months of political upheaval in Hong Kong in 2019 is dissolving, the group said Sunday.

The Hong Kong Civil Human Rights Front, made up of a slew of member organizations, said it could no longer operate. The decision comes as the group faces a police investigation for possible violation of a national security law, according to local media.

Washington (CNN)The US sanctioned Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Friday for her role in crackdowns on political freedom in the region.

Hong Kong police have issued an arrest warrant for a U.S. citizen involved in pro-democracy activism, part of a wider crackdown on those who are suspected of violating a new national security law, Chinese state media reported Friday.

Samuel Chu, one of six pro-democracy activists and the managing director of the D.C.-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, tweeted Friday that he had woken up to reports that he is a “wanted fugitive.”

“Truth” Take 1: In 2019, a peaceful pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong stunned the world; at its peak nearly 2 million Hong Kongers gathered in the streets to oppose a move they felt would erode their beloved city’s autonomy.

“Truth” Take 2: In 2019, violent pro-democracy protesters smashed windows, stormed Hong Kong’s legislative chamber, and stockpiled petrol bombs. Aided by anti-China foreign forces, the rioters were a radical fringe element who drew fewer than 350,000 at the movement’s height.

United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has notified the US Congress that the Trump administration no longer regards Hong Kong as autonomous from mainland China.

Wednesday's notification to lawmakers sets the stage for the US to withdraw preferential trade and financial status that the former British colony has enjoyed since it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.

"Hong Kong does not continue to warrant treatment under United States laws in the same manner as US laws were applied to Hong Kong before July 1997," Pompeo said in a statement.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Wednesday that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China – a landmark decision that will likely escalate already strained U.S.-China relations and which could have serious economic consequences for the global financial hub.

"No reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground," Pompeo said in a statement.

Secretary of State of Mike Pompeo has notified Congress that the Trump administration no longer regards Hong Kong as autonomous from mainland China and no longer deserves special treatment under U.S. law as it did while still under British law before July 1997.

Wednesday’s notification to lawmakers sets the stage for the U.S. to withdraw that preferential trade and financial status, which it has enjoyed since it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.

Hong Kong erupted in chaos again Sunday as thousands of protesters marched through the city to protest Beijing’s plans to impose tough new national security laws, which many fear will spell an end to the city’s freedoms.

On Monday, the pro-Beijing government’s top security official denounced the protesters as terrorists, claiming the unrest only underlined the need for the controversial new laws outlawing treason, secession and sedition.

At first glance, it would appear that five months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong had produced a stunning triumph.

By September, the proposal of city leader Carrie Lam that ignited the proteststo allow criminal suspects to be extradited to China for trial — had been withdrawn.

And though the protesters' demands escalated along with their tactics, from marches to mass civil disobedience, Molotov cocktails, riots and attacks on police, Chinese troops remained confined to their barracks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday accused China of curtailing “rights and liberties” in Hong Kong in a wide-ranging critique of Beijing’s behavior but also insisted that the United States does not seek confrontation or to “de-couple” from its main economic rival.