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HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam hopes peaceful and rational dialogue will help find a way out of the protests gripping the former British colony, she said on Tuesday, as she prepares to engage with members of the community this week.

The anti-government protests have roiled the Chinese-ruled city for nearly four months, plunging it into its biggest crisis in decades and posing a direct challenge to its political masters in Beijing.