Hong Kong chief executive CY Leung has warned pro-democracy protesters not to test Beijing’s patience, as he pointed to a possible compromise for ending the civil disobedience campaign that has lasted more than three weeks.

In his first on-the-record interview with international media since the start of protests, Mr Leung said Hong Kong had been “lucky” that Beijing had not yet felt the need to intervene in the stand-off over electoral reform.

“There is a thin line between what we do in Hong Kong and what [leaders in] Beijing think or might think they have to do. Now so far, Beijing has left it to the Hong Kong government to deal with the situation,” Mr Leung told the Financial Times, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal in a joint interview yesterday.