China's leaders are signalling that they are preparing to change how they deal with Hong Kong, following months of pro-democracy protests. Shen Chunyao, director of the Hong Kong, Macau and Basic Law Commission, told reporters they were looking at ways to "perfect" how Hong Kong's chief executive is appointed and removed. He did not elaborate on what exactly might change. The statement could further inflame protests, which began in June. There were demonstrations on Friday and more are expected over the weekend. Initially protesters were demonstrating against proposals to allow extradition to mainland China. These proposals have now been dropped, but the protests widened to include four more demands, including the implementation of complete universal suffrage (the right of almost all adults to vote in elections). The protests, the largest since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, have presented a serious challenge to China's leaders, who have painted the demonstrators as dangerous separatists and accused foreign powers of backing them.