Authorities launched an air and sea rescue operation Monday to find 11 crew members from a Chinese cargo ship after it collided with another vessel and sank just outside Hong Kong's teeming waters.

Four helicopters and more than 20 ships from China and Hong Kong were deploying to the waters near Po Toi, an island lying at the edge of Hong Kong's territory where the ship sank in the early hours of the morning, officials said.

Beijing warned the United States on Monday against interfering in Hong Kong's affairs after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met with two of the city's outspoken pro-democracy campaigners last week.

In an unusually high sign of support, Biden attended talks at the White House on Friday with Martin Lee, a founder of Hong Kong's opposition Democratic Party, and Anson Chan, former number two in the city's government.

Hundreds of passengers were locked inside a grounded Dragonair plane overnight when a massive storm prevented their landing in Hong Kong, the airline's parent company confirmed Monday.

Flight KA875 took off from Shanghai at 6:30 pm (1030 GMT) on Sunday with 252 passengers on board but was diverted to nearby Shenzhen airport when Hong Kong was deluged by rain and hail.

Hong Kong's last colonial governor Chris Patten on Saturday said a string of attacks on media workers was "profoundly serious", with fears over an erosion of press freedom intensifying in the city.

Two senior figures from the Hong Kong Morning News Media Group were attacked on Wednesday weeks after Kevin Lau, a former editor of the liberal Ming Pao newspaper, was critically wounded in another assault.

Hong Kong police on Thursday arrested a man and a woman over a brutal knife attack on a veteran journalist, bringing the total number detained in the case to 11.

Kevin Lau, a former editor of the liberal Ming Pao newspaper, was hacked with a cleaver in broad daylight last month by two men who fled the scene on a motorbike.

A Chinese official warned Thursday of possible "disastrous results" if Hong Kong adopts a foreign electoral system as it mulls political reform, according to a report.

Changes to the political system are a highly charged issue in the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city, regularly sparking protests in favor of greater democracy.

Protestors took to Hong Kong streets on Sunday to march for press freedom, in a demonstration organized by journalists as fears grow that free expression is being compromised.

Organizers estimated 6,000 participated in the march -- though police said the figure was 1,600 -- many wore blue ribbons as a symbol advocating free expression in the media.

Hong Kong has taken a key step towards approving the construction of a Chinese military port along its waterfront, China's state media reported Saturday, despite fierce public opposition to the move.

In a unanimous decision, Hong Kong's Town Planning Board Friday gave the green light for the construction of a People's Liberation Army (PLA) military port in the city's Central district, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) said.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Tuesday said Hong Kong's universal suffrage must meet the "aspirations" of the people, in remarks likely to anger Beijing.

The comments, made in a six-monthly report prepared for Britain's parliament regarding the development of the former colony, is the second time in less than a year that Hague has publicly spoken out on an issue Beijing insists is a purely internal matter.

The Philippines insisted Thursday it would not apologize for a 2010 hostage crisis in which Hong Kong tourists died, saying its response to the tragedy had been generous and compassionate.

The statement came after the Hong Kong government announced on Wednesday it would impose diplomatic sanctions against the Philippines because of its "unacceptable" failure to apologize.