Hong Kong still without answers one year after Edward Snowden saga

Relations between Hong Kong and the United States took a big hit with the Edward Snowden saga, and while they appear to have warmed since then, the long-term impact is harder to assess.

The ramifications of the city's brief encounter with the realities of superpower espionage had an immediate effect on the city he chose as his first "safe harbour".

Attempts by Washington to have Snowden extradited sparked street demonstrations in support of the former NSA contractor, and the public generally seemed to back the young American's crusade.

We will probably never know if Hong Kong's Justice Department was just being scrupulous or was practising a diplomatic sleight of hand conceived in Beijing when it rejected Washington's request for Snowden's arrest. But we do know the events of a year ago this month allowed the city and the nation to walk away relatively unscathed.

"We know that when Snowden left, Hong Kong-US relations were probably at an all-time low," said Simon Young, barrister and law professor at the University of Hong Kong.

"There are no obvious signs that relations have been restored or warmed much in the past year, especially with Chinese-backed criticisms of US intervention in Hong Kong's political reform process."