Hong Kong to ask Beijing to rule on foreign lawyers' involvement in national security cases

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong government will ask China's National People's Congress Standing Committee to rule on whether foreign lawyers can be involved in national security cases, the city's leader John Lee said on Monday.

Lee's announcement came hours after Hong Kong's top court ruled that a British lawyer could represent pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai in a national security trial, rejecting an appeal by the government to bar foreign lawyers from such cases.

(Reporting by James Pomfret and Greg Torode; Editing by Gareth Jones)